Loud Reunion
by Stonecoldhard12
Summary: Leon, a recently retired wrestler, ventures out in Royal Woods as he makes up for lost family time with his father and sister. Along the way he learns that he is an uncle and assumes those repsonsibilites. How will he handle being an uncle to the Loud Children?
1. Reconciling with the Father

"_It's been a couple of months since I retired from professional wrestling which had been a part of my life for the past twenty-four years. Now I am on my way to make amends with my family whom I haven't talked to since I left them to pursue my career._" Leon thought to himself while he was driving down the road with the windows opened halfway. Leon had short brown hair and was very muscular all around. Once he saw the sign for Sunset Canyon Retirement Home, that was when Leon turned his nice Convertible into the parking lot before heading inside the nice retirement home.

"Excuse me, nurse. Do you know where I can find Albert S.?" Leon asked the nurse who was at the front desk.

"Oh well he is in the room on the far right. Are you family or friend to him?" The nurse asked before sending Leon on his way.

"I'm a long-lost family member of his, nurse." Leon asked with a calm look on his face before he proceeded to head into the room on the far right.

Once Leon walked to the door of that room, he gave it a couple of knocks only to realize that it was open by an inch. Upon entering the room, Leon saw an old man with white hair, wearing a white shirt with orange suspenders, and blue jeans standing there with a calm look on his face.

"Hi, Dad. It's been a very long time." Leon said with a sigh under his breath.

"Hello, kiddo. How come it took you all of these years to come by and seeing me again?" Albert asked upon greeting his son.

"Dad, it was that my career had caught up to me. I mean I was doing somethings I know you taught me were morally wrong but was afraid to come forward to tell you about them. You see I had wounded up in some trouble where my employer had put me in rehab, but I got myself cleaned. Now I am retired from that profession. I am very sorry for messing up and I hope you can forgive me." Leon replied with a tear started to drip down in his eye.

"Even though I am bit disappointed that you got yourself into some trouble and not telling me about it, Leon. However, I'm proud of you that you got your act together and that's what makes me as a father happy to hear about that." Albert stated as he hugged Leon in acceptance to Leon's apology.

"Thank you, Dad. So, how's Rita been?" Leon asked with a smile on his face.

"Oh, your sister's been doing great over the past few years. She got married and ended up having 11 kids in which they call me Pop-Pop. By the way she doesn't live far from here in a small town called Royal Woods. There's a picture of your nieces and nephew that you can look at while I grab your sister's contact information for you." Albert replied with a smile on his face.

While looking at the photo, Leon began to realize that he needed to learn how to be an uncle and he proceeded to thank his father once he was handed a little piece of paper containing Rita's contact information. Before he left the retirement home, Leon proceeded to give Albert a hug.

"Well it was great seeing you again, Leon, kiddo. Promise me that you will stop by to see me more often." Albert stated as he waved off Leon.

"Don't worry, Dad. I promise to see you more often." Leon said as he was about to walk off from the entranceway to the retirement home.

Once Leon got into his contrivable, he decided to pull out his cell phone to see if there were any nearby hotels in the Royal Woods area. Luckily there were a few hotels that popped up on the search engine and Leon chose a hotel that was near the local shopping mall. Upon getting situated in the hotel room, Leon decided to unwind for a little while before thinking about how he was going to make amends with his sister, Rita. Not even a minute after he got up from the hotel bed, Leon's cell phone goes off and he notices that the number is associated with Sunset Canyon retirement home.

"Hello, Leon. Are you there?" Albert asked on his end of the phone.

"Yes, Dad. What is it?" Leon answered out of curiosity.

"I think I should be the one to tell your sister that you want to talk to her. It's that…." Albert answered Leon's question.

"I understand, Dad." Leon replied on his end of the phone conversation.

"Thank you, Leon. I'll tell you how it goes ok." Albert stated as he was about to hang up the phone.

"Ok, Dad. I'll talk to you later." Leon said as he hung his phone and then placed it on the round table next to the hotel bed.

Then Leon began to take a nap from the long drive he had while the television was on tuned to the sports channel which was covering the current events surrounding the sports world. "_Well at least I made peace with Dad and he seemed to understand about my situation. But he was always like that towards me especially whenever I was a child. Now I just got to worry about Rita which is a whole different situation._" Leon thought to himself while he was dreaming away.

Meanwhile, it was approaching 5:30 in the afternoon and Albert had realized he needed to call Rita before he got ready for bed. So, Albert asked the nurse if he could borrow the cordless phone to make a phone call. The nurse accepted Albert's request before she started to do room checks on the farthest wing in Sunset Canyon Retirement Home. With the phone now in his possession, Albert began dialing the number for the Loud residence.

"Hello, Dad. What's going on?" A woman's voice replied with concern once the call went through.

"Hello, Rita. Oh, how are the kids doing?" Albert replied with a chuckle on his end of the phone conversation.

"They are all doing fine, Dad. Are you feeling ok?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"I'm feeling a little bit surprised after what happened today. Sorry if I'm rambling to myself over on the phone." Albert replied with a hesitant voice.

"What did exactly happen today, Dad? Because I know there is something that you have tell me and can you explain it to me quickly since I can hear one of the kids telling me that dinner's ready." Rita stated out of pure concern.

"Alright, I got an unexpected visit from your long-lost brother Leon today and he came seeking forgiveness for not being around the family for many years due to his lifestyle or something like that. Anyways, I think he wants to talk to you since he asked me how you were doing and all of that." Albert replied with a sigh on his end of the phone conversation.

"I'll think about it, Dad. I mean I don't know how to react about Leon showing up like this after all these years without even talking to us. Is he going to be around in the area?" Rita said with more curiosity.

"I think he was planning on staying at a hotel in Royal Woods, but I don't know which one. Well it's getting past my bedtime over here and I don't want Lynn and your kids complaining about why you're not at the dinner table with them, Rita. So, I'll talk to you later." Albert answered after looking at the clock that was shown on the phone.

"Ok then, Dad. Goodbye." Rita proceeded to say right before she hung up the phone on her end.

Suddenly, Rita felt sad to the point where she didn't want her and Lynn Sr.'s bedroom even though dinner had been made for her. A couple of minutes later, a knock on the bedroom door which eventually led it being open by Rita's husband, Lynn Loud Sr. who had come in to check on his wife.

"What's the matter, honey?" Lynn asked out of concern after shutting the bedroom door right behind him.

"I want you to watch the kids while I go out for an errand with Vanzilla. I should be back sometime tonight." Rita answered while she was getting her purse and the keys to the Loud family's van.

Then Rita waved goodbye to her kids and Lynn Sr. upon leaving their house. "_I hope they saved me some dinner by the time I get back from doing this escapade. So, Dad told me that Leon might be staying in a hotel here in Royal Woods. This is going to be an interesting search since there's a few hotels around here in the first place and I don't know if Vanzilla can handle it all._" Rita thought to herself as she was driving along the major shopping areas of Royal Woods.

Meanwhile, Leon woke up from his nap to sense that he was starting to feel hungry and proceeded to call the pizza place to place in his order. After making that phone call, Leon decided to take a hot shower and by the time he got out it there was a knock on the door.


	2. Reconciling with the Sister

After putting on clean clothes, Leon looked to see who was at the door and he was very surprised. Upon recognizing that was his sister Rita standing at the door, Leon opened the door and let her inside the hotel room.

"Leon, my little brother, why after all these years you have the malice to even come back to even try contact your own family? I thought that you would never speak to us again when you bolted out of the house at seventeen." Rita stated as she was about to get mad with tears flowing down her face towards Leon.

"I know what I have said back on that day many years ago caused a lot of hard feelings for the family especially with how close we used to be as brother and sister. That is one of the biggest regrets I wounded making as you see when I ventured down that lifestyle I always wanted to do well there was a heavy price I had to pay for being a famed pro wrestler. I ended up in some trouble where I got sent to rehab by my employer's expense where I got my act cleaned up. You see I was not the same person I used to be, Rita." Leon said in a calm tone right before another knock came on the door which was for the pizza order he placed earlier.

"Leon, I didn't mean too…." Rita stated with hesitation in her voice.

"It's fine, Rita. I just wanted to see if we could patch things up and start anew by asking for your forgiveness." Leon stated before taking a bite out of his first slice of pizza.

"I accept your forgiveness, Leon. I could see a change in you already just like Dad was telling me about earlier." Rita stated as she hugged Leon.

"So, Dad did a get hold of you. I was wondering about that since that retirement home seemed pretty nice." Leon said while wiping his face off.

"Oh no, not now…." Rita uttered as she heard a loud ruckus coming from outside the hotel room.

"What is it, Rita?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"Just that I left my vehicle running outside and it's about to have problems with it to where I can't make it back home." Rita answered with a sigh under her breath.

"Oh wow, I haven't seen one of those vans since the last European tour I went on before my retirement. Hmm…let me see what's wrong with it since I saw one of my old colleagues showed me how to fix one of these early in my career." Leon stated as he was amazed with Vanzilla.

"That's neat, Leon." Rita stated with a smile on her face.

"So how long have you had this van for?" Leon asked Rita after fixing the minor problems that was going on with Vanzilla.

"Well it was my husband's first car which wounded being his dad's first car and his grandfather's first car. So, it's more like family heirloom, Leon." Rita answered with a smile on her face.

"That's a unique vehicle then. Well it should be up and running smoothly to where you can get back safely." Leon said in a calm tone.

"Well I better head on home then and thank you for fixing up my vehicle, Leon." Rita stated as she was about to step inside Vanzilla.

"Wait, Rita. Is there a chance that I can meet your husband and possibly some of my nieces and nephew too the next time you visit?" Leon asked before Rita left the hotel parking lot.

"Hmm…that would be a good idea, Leon. How did you know about my kids and how long will you be down here for?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"I knew about your kids because Dad had a picture of them in his room at the retirement home and I will be down here for ten days, Rita. If you need to set up a meeting place or anything of that here is my cell phone number." Leon answered once he handed Rita a note card containing his contact information.

After waving Rita goodbye is when Leon went back inside the hotel bedroom and proceeded to fall asleep with a big smile on his face.

While on her way back to her house, Rita started to feel happy with tears dripping down her face that she had just reconciled with her long-lost brother, Leon and couldn't wait to tell her family the good news. However, by the time she made it back to the house Rita notices that all of her family was in the living room watching one of their favorite TV shows, _The Dream Boat _and she decided to walk into the dining room to see that her dinner plate was sitting there on the table. It didn't take long for Lynn Sr. to notice that Rita was sitting in the dining room all by herself and decided to keep her company while she ate dinner.

"So, dear. Care to explain to me what kind of errand you were on?" Lynn Sr. asked out of curiosity.

"Alright, Lynn, I don't know if I have ever told you that I had a younger brother." Rita replied with a sigh after taking a bite of her husband's signature Lynnsagna.

"No, I don't think you ever told me you ever had any younger siblings, Rita. How does this relate to your errand with Vanzilla?" Lynn Sr. asked out of concern.

"Well the phone call that I got from my dad earlier was that he wanted to tell me that my long-lost younger brother was here in Royal Woods and that _he _wanted to talk to me for the first time in several years. I had found my brother in a nearby hotel and he wanted to seek forgiveness which I accepted very fondly. Lynn…..." Rita said with a calm tone in her voice.

"What is it, Rita? I mean it sounds wonderful that you got to reconnect with your long-lost brother but something's on your mind." Lynn asked Rita while noticing that the kids were heading upstairs to head off for bed.

"The thing is that my brother wants to meet you and the kids. However, I'm worried that one of kids might do something odd which could give a bad impression for them meeting their long-lost uncle for the first time." Rita replied with a concern look.

"Don't worry, dear. We can straighten them out and besides we are going to have a talk with them about this before we visit your brother." Lynn stated with a calm look on his face.

"Thanks, Lynn." Rita stated with a smile on her face.


	3. Meeting the Loud Family

The following morning once Leon got dressed and ate a quick breakfast is when he decides to turn on his cell phone since he had left it on a charger overnight. Not even a couple of minutes after it got fully booted up, Leon's cell phone starts ringing and he notices that it was someone trying to call him in which he proceeded to answer back.

"Hello." Leon stated once he hit the send button on his cell phone.

"Oh, hello, Leon. It's me, Rita. I was calling you to let you know that I've talked it over with my husband about you wanting to meet him and my kids. He's alright with it and can't wait to meet you." Rita responded back on her end of the telephone conversation.

"That's wonderful, Rita. So, when can I meet them?" Leon asked with a curious tone.

"Well the kids are at school right now and my husband is doing a little cleanup work at a restaurant until noon. How about tonight around six at the Mexican-French restaurant?" Rita replied with a calm tone.

"Sounds good to me, Rita. See you later." Leon stated as he was about to hang up the phone.

A few minutes had passed by until Rita noticed that Lynn Sr. just came into to the house with their youngest child, Lily on his shoulder. That made Rita feel a bit concerned about the situation once she requested her husband to come into the living room after putting down Lily.

"How come you're home early, Lynn and why did you bring Lily back with you because I thought her daycare was open today?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"Well I had finished with my work duties a lot earlier than I thought it was supposed to be, honey. Also, one of the daycare staff ended up dropping off Lily at the restaurant and told me that they were going to be closed for half the day today and all next week. Is something wrong?" Lynn Sr. answered after noticing Rita's facial expression.

"Nothing's wrong, dear. I was just concerned is all." Rita replied with a sigh under her breath.

"Ok, Rita. So, what did you do today?" Lynn Sr. asked while he had Lily on his lap and had a smile on his face.

"Well you remember that talk we had last night about my long-lost brother wanting to meet you and the kids. So, I decided to talk it over with my brother about wanting to eat out with all of us tonight around six at the French-Mexican restaurant and he was on board with the idea. I mean it would be a great opportunity to you guys to meet my brother and besides we haven't eaten out in a while." Rita replied with a calm look on her face.

"That sounds like a great idea for a Friday night dinner, dear. So, this means I can move my goulash dinner to tomorrow night." Lynn Sr. stated with a great smile on his face.

"Thank you for understanding, Lynn. I think we should tell the kids about our dinner plan once they get home from school." Rita said after giving her husband a kiss on the cheek.

Meanwhile Leon was searching through his suitcase to find his valuable bracelets and golden Rolex watch so that he would remember to put them on for the dinner outing. "_I'm going to get a little worried if some fans could spot me later while at the outing. I mean I don't want Rita and her family to be exposed by the media. Oh boy that was something I totally forgot about until now._" Leon thought to himself with a reveling look on his face. Because of that look, Leon decided to pull out the sunglasses from his coat pocket and golf caddy like cap that was on the top zipper of his suitcase.

Then it was a few minutes past three in the afternoon before Rita and Lynn Sr. noticed that the rest of their children had just returned home from school. It didn't take long before Lynn Sr. used a whistle signal to have Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lincoln, Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lisa assemble into the living room even though they had dreadful looks on their faces unlike Lily who was happy as can be was playing with some of her toys on the floor.

"I want you to stop looking at me." Lana stated towards Lola before the rest of the siblings turned it into a fight.

"THAT'S ENOUGH. ALL OF YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR THE WEEKEND." Rita shouted towards her children to stop the fight.

As in typical fashion, the Loud children started to feel a little bit upset about their punishment and apologized to each other also including their parents.

"Even though you guys did apologize to me and your father, but it doesn't mean that we are leaving you guys home alone tonight while we go out to eat for dinner." Rita said with a calm tone.

"I don't understand what you mean by that, Mom." Lori said as the other Loud children were confused on Rita's statement.

"Kids, what your mother is trying to say is that you're going out to dinner with us at the Mexican-French restaurant in a couple of hours. So, we want you guys to be on your best behavior while we are there, and we might consider ungrounding you guys for the weekend." Lynn Sr. said with a calm tone on his face before the Loud children including Lily who was released from her high chair were dismissed from the living room.

All of the Loud children nodded their heads in response to Lynn Sr.'s statement and went upstairs to their prospective rooms so they could get ready for the dinner occasion. Then Rita proceeded to walk up to Lynn Sr. with a smile on her face.

"I think we handled that well, honey. So, are you going to get ready?" Lynn Sr. said with a smile on his face.

"Yes, I am going to get ready for the big dinner." Rita responded before she headed to her and Lynn Sr.'s bedroom.

A few minutes had passed, and the Loud family was all ready to head out for the French-Mexican restaurant. "_Well I better get a hold of Leon to tell him that we are on our way to the restaurant._" Rita thought to herself once she pulled her phone out of her purse after getting seated in Vanzilla.

Meanwhile, Leon who was seated outside of the entranceway to the French-Mexican restaurant taking some pictures with a couple of wrestling fans had received the message from Rita on his phone. After replying to the message, Leon proceeded to answer a couple of quick questions that the fans gave him before they left the vicinity of the restaurant. "_Man, it's nice to see some young fans knowing what I did in my career. Shows how much my legacy has spread even after I announced my retirement a few months ago. Oh, it looks like Rita and her family's almost on the intersection to the restaurant."_ Leon thought to himself once he saw a glimpse of Vanzilla down a few blocks away from the French-Mexican restaurant.

Then Leon proceeded to head towards the restaurant parking lot, so he could put his sunglasses away in his car. Upon shutting the car door is when Leon sees a familiar van parking right across from him and proceeded to have a calm look on his face. "_Well they made it on time at least. Now to go introduce myself. I hope my sister's family will like me._" Leon thought to himself once he saw Rita and the rest of the Loud family get out of Vanzilla.

"Uhh…Mom. Why is there a big brown hair guy coming our way?" Lincoln asked out of curiosity.

"Lincoln, that's not nice to talk about somebody you don't know yet." Rita answered in a stern tone towards her son.

"Ump. Honey. I think you better look to your right." Lynn Sr. stated to Rita right as he noticed Leon was almost in their vicinity.

Then Rita did what her husband said and was surprised to see that her brother Leon was standing right next to Vanzilla. Suddenly the Loud children were puzzled into what was going on and it didn't take long before Rita motioned for her family's attention.

"Kids, your father and I invited somebody to join us for this dinner tonight, but it was mostly my idea. The person that we invited is standing right by Vanzilla." Rita stated in a natural tone.

"Is this guy like a friend or something, Mom?" Lori asked out of curiosity.

Right before Rita could answer Lori's question, that was when Leon decided to introduce himself to Lynn Sr. quietly before he went to the direction of Rita and the Loud children. This was when Rita decided that she would let Leon reveal the truth to her children about their long-lost sibling relationship.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Leon. I'm your mother's younger brother. In other words, this would make me…" Leon stated his introductions to his nieces and nephew.

"Our uncle?!" The Loud Children said in unison to Leon before they turned their attention to Rita.

Before Rita could say anything towards most of her children, she realizes that Leon, Lynn. Sr who was holding Lily went ahead to the French-Mexican restaurant to check-in their reservation. However, the children weren't going inside because they were still a bit mortified from the fact they never knew of an uncle on their mom's side of the family.

"How come you never told us that we had an uncle on your side, Mom?" Lori asked with her hand placed on her left elbow.

"Yeah, Mom." Lincoln, Lynn, Luna, Luan, and the other Loud Children said in unison with distraught looks on their faces.

"Ok first off I'm sorry for not telling you guys about your uncle Leon. It's that I didn't know that he would ever come back after being away from me, your Pop-Pop and the rest of the family for many years. Also, if I could have told you guys about your uncle earlier I would have ended up being upset for days. Now do you guys understand a little bit of why I had to do this." Rita responded with a gloomy look on her face while she and her children were standing at the entrance of the French-Mexican restaurant.

"But why did uncle Leon leave you and Pop-Pop, Mom?" Lincoln asked out of curiosity.

"That question would best answered for your uncle, sweetie. I mean I had been out of Pop-Pop's house when your uncle had last contact with me and right before I met your father." Rita responded honestly with a smile on her face.

Then Rita and the Loud Children entered the French-Mexican restaurant to see that Lynn Sr. who was holding a sleeping Lily and Leon were sitting in a bench not far from the front counter. That was when Lynn Sr. explained to Rita that it would be at least twenty minutes before a waiter could seat their entire crew. Once the wait was over and everyone ordered their drinks, Leon had noticed his phone was about to fall from his pocket and placed it back in there. However, that was the moment where Leon began to realize that he needed to get to know his family a little better and came up with a quick solution.

"So, Lynn was it. Rita here told me that you're into the restaurant business." Leon said after taking a sip of water that he ordered.

"In way yes, Leon. You see I used to be an IT at an office before I decided to go for my dream job of being a chef and hopefully one day open my own restaurant." Lynn Sr. stated with a calm look on his face.

"That sounds good. So, I want to know is what do the rest of you guys like to do when you're not at school?" Leon stated in response before asking his nieces and nephew out of curiosity an icebreaker question.

"Well, I like literally to talk on the phone to my boyfriend, Bobby most of the time and do driving errands for my siblings." Lori responded with a calm look on her face.

After hearing Lori's response, Leon heard quick responses from the rest of the children before the waiter came asking for their food order. Then Leon had a big smile on his face after getting to know his nieces and nephew a little better which in turn made Rita happy as well.

While waiting for their food order, the Loud family had started to get suspicious of Lincoln who had been looking at Leon with a very precarious look on his face. This began to worry Rita until she remembered what her son had said right before they entered the restaurant.

"Uncle Leon, why wait this long to introduce yourself to our family?" Lincoln stated out of curiosity.

"Now it's time that I tell you guys the truth about everything since your mother is here. You see for a long time I was afraid to reach out to anybody or even attempting to talk to family because I did a lot of bad things that got me sent to rehabilitation facilities for a couple of months at a time. That was because I used to be a professional wrestler for twenty-four years and I had gotten hooked on the bad things through other wrestlers which some of them aren't here today because they didn't get clean like me. Also, this is something that even your mother can attest to that when I was 17 I had gotten into a bad fight with your Pop-Pop and that severed all ties with the rest of the family until today. Basically, the lesson I am trying to teach you is don't end up like me ok because it could lead to some dark paths later in life and love each other. I'm sorry if I got all antsy there for a second because this is the first time I've talked about this since leaving therapy and retiring from wrestling a few months ago." Leon replied with a couple of tears shedding down his face.

Then the Loud family began to embrace Leon after his emotional response and went back to their seats before noticing that the waiter with an assistant was coming out with their food orders. Before taking the first bite of his meal, Leon was wiping off his cheeks which had been filled with tears and had a big smile on his face.

Once the dinner was over with and everyone had proceeded to walk toward Vanzilla, so they could say goodbye to each other. After Leon thanked Rita and the rest of the Loud family for the dinner at the French-Mexican restaurant, he went to his car and headed back to the hotel that he was stayed at with a smile on his face.

"So, kids how did you think of your Uncle Leon?" Rita asked her children while on the car ride back home.

"He was cool, I didn't know he used to be a professional wrestler. That's why he looked so buffed up, Mom." Lynn replied in a calm tone.

"He seemed to be a nice guy, honey." Lynn Sr. stated while paying attention to the road.

"He was literally awesome even before Lincoln asked that awkward question back at the restaurant." Lori replied in a stern tone.

"Yeah, Lincoln." The rest of the siblings except for Lily stated toward Lincoln.

"Ok, that's enough, you guys. Even though you are now ungrounded but that doesn't give you the right to go after your brother." Rita stated once they made it back to the house.

The Loud girls put a sigh on their faces before heading off into their prospective rooms, but Lincoln went into the living room to sit on the sofa with his head held down. This prompted Rita and Lynn Sr. to go into the living room to check on Lincoln.

"Lincoln, what's wrong?" Lynn Sr. asked once he and Rita sat down on the sofa.

"I feel kind of sad for upsetting Uncle Leon back there at the restaurant when I asked him that question. That's what been bothering me." Lincoln responded in a gloomy tone.

"Oh, Lincoln, sweetie, I think you didn't upset your uncle back there and to be honest I was hoping that he would open up to you guys. You did the right thing and don't let that bother you despite what your sisters say." Rita said while rubbing Lincoln's head.

"Thanks, Mom." Lincoln stated before he got ready for bed.


	4. Hall of Fame News

Meanwhile, Leon was back at his hotel room and began to unwind on the bed while the same sports channel that he had on the night before was tuned in the background. Only a couple of seconds had passed, and Leon's phone goes off on the other side of the bed. After seeing who it was on his caller ID, Leon immediately answered his phone while turning down the volume to the television set.

"Oh hey, Hunter." Leon stated once he realized it was one of his best friends that he used to work with on the phone, Hunter Hearst Hemsley aka HHH.

"Do you have a minute, Leon?" Hunter asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, I have a moment, Hunter. What is it?" Leon responded back out of more curiosity.

"Well I have been talking it over with Vince, and we chose to put you in the WWE Hall of Fame, Leon. I figured I would be the one to tell you this myself since you're one of my best friends and had been an honorary supporter of the Kliq/DX throughout my career." Hunter responded back in a calm tone.

Leon who was speechless for only a few seconds responded back by saying, "Thank you, Hunter. I'm just like Shawn who wounded up getting in less than a year after retiring. Before I forget would you tell Vince thank you as well."

"I most certainly will, Leon. This came at the right time for you because Steph had told me that she saw a post of yours a couple of days ago on social media that you were on your way back to Michigan or something like that to make amends with your family." Hunter stated out of curiosity.

"Yeah, it is mostly in the middle of Michigan where my family's from. I wanted to make amends with my family because I didn't want to be like the case of Jake and Scott you know before they got saved by Dallas." Leon replied.

"Leon, that makes sense now you think about it with the times me, Vince, or Shawn when he came back as a changed man had to straighten you out. Well I better let you go since I must start planning out a few shows with Vince. I hope your family will like your Hall of Fame announcement once it shows up. Good night, my friend." Hunter stated right as he was about to end the phone call.

"Ok, talk to you later, Hunter." Leon said right before hanging up the phone.

Then Leon placed his phone back on the other side of the bed and began to look up at the ceiling with a smile on his face. "_I hope so too Hunter. Hard to believe that only a couple of months after retiring from wrestling I got the call to be a WWE Hall of Famer. Wow I can't believe that my career is going be solidified into a legacy in only three months from now. This right after I had fully made amends with my father and sister._" Leon thought to himself right before going to sleep.

The next morning, Leon woke up to see that his cell phone had been bombarded with some notifications and checked to see that they were congratulatory messages from some of his closest friends of the news regarding the Hall of Fame. "_Hmm…it seemed like Shawn tried to call me while I was sleeping._" Leon thought to himself after he scrolled through the notifications to see that he got a missed call from another best friend, Shawn Michaels. So, Leon decided to call Shawn since he noticed that the missed call occurred thirty minutes before he woke up.

"Hello, Leon. Congratulations about getting chosen to be in the Hall of Fame. It's a prestigious honor believe me." Shawn stated once the phone call went through.

"Thank you, Shawn. I couldn't believe that word about my induction got out overnight. How did you find out just of curiosity?" Leon replied on his end of the phone conversation.

"Well Hunter had told me right after he got off the phone with you last night and as soon as I came back from my morning jog I saw that ESPN had gotten a hold of the announcement online. So, it will probably be talked about on RAW next week or during tonight's edition of Smackdown Live." Shawn answered with honesty in his tone.

"Well that's good to know that ESPN got the announcement. Anyways, how's life outside working at the Performance Center?" Leon asked in a calm tone.

"It's been going good just getting used to living in a different state and the kids are adjusted to it greatly now that they're older. By the way, Leon, how is that family amends trip of yours going so far? Because you were packing for it the last time we talked the other day." Shawn answered in a calm tone.

"The trip is going great so far, Shawn. I had made it to my destination two days ago where I started to make peace with my father who is living in a retirement home not far from the hotel that I'm staying at and later reconciled with my sister, which she explained to me about her family. So, I got meet my brother-in-law and 11 nieces and nephew last night for the first time at this average cultural restaurant." Leon answered honestly

"I knew there would be something remarkable that you learned from taking this trip, Leon. Despite the struggles you took just to make it possible, but you did it like all the moments in your career. I mean to be honest when I got saved you remember I overcame my struggles even though my oldest child was barely two when it happened. You see what I mean." Shawn stated in a calm manner.

"Thank you, Shawn for those words. Oh, it sounds like somebody's knocking at the door, so I better let you go." Leon stated once he heard a knock coming from his hotel room door.

"Ok, it was nice talking to you, Leon." Shawn stated before he hung up his phone.

"Same to you, Shawn." Leon replied right before ending the phone conversation.

Once Leon hung up his cell phone and placed it on the little table right next to the bed that was when he went to see who was at the hotel room door. It put a smile on his face when Leon saw that it was Rita, Lynn Sr. and Lily who were knocking on the door in which he proceeded to let them inside.

"What brings you guys here today?" Leon asked in a calm tone while he was cleaning up his toiletries in the guest sink.

"Well one of the things that brought us here to visit you today, Leon, was that something felt a bit off with Lincoln last night right as we got home. I mean he started to feel upset about the idea about asking you that question back at the restaurant about why you weren't around, and he thought that your feelings were hurt." Rita replied with an honest tone.

"To tell you the truth, I wasn't upset with him asking me that question at all last night because I understand what that's like with friends of mine not seeing their children due to their midiscule lifestyles and work schedules which rippled some of their marriages. So, I admired his bravery for doing that because I see a lot of him in you, Sis." Leon stated with a smile on his face.

"Honey are you alright?" Lynn Sr. asked right as he saw Rita's facial expression.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just that something on the TV caught my eye and I think the both of you guys better look at." Rita replied while she was paying attention to the sports channel that Leon had turned on a few minutes prior to their arrival.

"Oh, Lily. Look at the TV." Leon stated while he was playing with his youngest niece Lily and immediately tuned his attention to the TV.

The sports channel was getting ready to reveal Leon's WWE Hall of Fame Announcement right after taking a commercial break. Then Leon had the biggest smile on his face and thought to himself, "_I could've imagined that Hunter or possibly Steph must have been the one to relay the announcement of me going into the Hall of Fame to the sports channel personally._" Lily then decided to touch Leon's cheek to snap him out of his thought and that caused both Rita and Lynn Sr. to chuckle a little. Suddenly, the sports channel was out of its commercial break.

"Welcome back to _the SportsZone_, this is the Maverick here. We have just received this announcement from WWE Headquarters that they have just revealed another name into this year's WWE Hall of Fame Class. It is our pleasure to reveal to you that Leon "the Brute" S. is the latest inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame and will join the 2018 class the Friday night before WrestleMania. Leon has held the WWE Title 3 times, WWE Tag Team Titles 4 times, WWE Intercontential title 4 times, WWE US Title one-time, multiple time Match of the Year award recipient, 5-time Slammy Award winner throughout his illustrious 24-year career in the WWE. Here are some posts written by those who have worked with Leon and their reactions to the announcement." The Maverick stated on the sports channel about Leon's Hall of Fame announcement.

Once all the reaction posts were passed through the TV screen, that was when Leon decided to turn off the TV and began to stand up from the bed. Then Leon would see a sight that he would not forget which caught even Lynn Sr. and little Lily off. Rita had a big smile on her face while a tear was starting to pour down from it and began to hug Leon.

"I never knew you did so much to gain all of those credentials in those years you became a wrestler, Leon. To hear that you are going into the Hall of Fame, makes me and everyone in the family very happy for it. I'm proud of you, little brother." Rita said as she was still hugging Leon.

"Thank you, Sis. That means a lot to me." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"You know what I was thinking that we should have a celebratory dinner for the announcement at the house, tonight." Lynn Sr. stated with a smile on his face.

"Ok, Lynn. That sounds great. Do you need directions to our house Leon or are you going to plan on following us there once we leave here?" Rita stated in a calm tone.

"I'll plan on following you guys there just in case the car you're using breaks down or something." Leon stated with no hesitation in his voice while he was handing Lily to Lynn Sr.

Then Leon grabbed his cell phone, wallet, and hat before leaving the hotel room alongside Rita, Lynn Sr. and Lily. "_I hope Rita's house looks nice if she was able to start a family as big as hers._" Leon thought to himself as he was driving right behind Vanzilla on route to the Loud house. Once Leon had made it to the vicinity of the Loud house only a few minutes after Vanzilla was parked is when Rita had signaled for him to park his Convertible right behind Vanzilla.

Upon entering the Loud house, Leon was given a tour of the place by Rita and she introduced him to the family's four pets: Walt, Geo, Clifford, and Charles who were nearby the door. After the tour was done, Rita offered Leon a glass of water and he chose to drink it in the dining room table. While he was sipping down his water, Leon noticed that Rita went to take Lily upstairs to put her down for a nap and came back down to join her brother.

"This is a nice house, but I'm surprised that its up to date." Leon stated with a nervous look on his face.

"We understand in what you mean, Leon. It's not rude or anything. I mean this house has had it fair shares of problems over the years, but our family here still manages to fix them all." Lynn Sr. stated once he entered the dining room.

"Yes, I mean the kids tell us constantly that there is a problem within the house in which we insist on fixing it ourselves without them helping us." Rita said with a sigh.

"Anyways, speaking of the children isn't it close to time for them to be home from school." Leon stated after looking at his cell phone watch.

"It is, Leon, but the kids walk home if we use Vanzilla since there's a bus stop not far from here that drops them off. Oh, I hope you're a fan of goulash because that's what I'm making tonight to celebrate for your announcement from earlier today." Lynn Sr. said with a smile on his face.

Leon's face smiled with gleam as he not only heard Lynn Sr.'s statement but the door opening indicating that the rest of the Loud Children were home from school. However, the Loud Children were surprised to see their Uncle Leon in their home and dropped off their bags in their prospective rooms before heading into the living room. This led Rita to head into the living room while Lynn Sr. was in the kitchen preparing the big goulash meal.

"Mom why is Uncle Leon in our living room or better yet in our house?" Lori asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah, care to explain." Lola stated while the other 7 Loud Children nodded their heads in agreeance.

"Ok, kids. Me and your father have invited your uncle over since he hasn't got to see the house yet and has an announcement that was made on TV today which is why we brought him here to eat dinner with us to celebrate it. The rest of you can head up to your rooms except for Lincoln, you stay here." Rita said while she motioned for 9 of the Loud Children to head up to their rooms and Lincoln stayed in his spot in the living room.

"Am I in trouble or something, Mom?" Lincoln asked out of concern.

"No, sweetie. You're not trouble it's that…... Leon, can you come in here for a second." Rita replied as she sat next to Lincoln.

"Sure thing, Sis." Leon stated as he was coming out of the dining room and into the living room.

"It's that I told your uncle about why asking him the question back at the restaurant bothered you, Lincoln." Rita said as she could tell that Lincoln was about to get mad.

"Why did you do that, Mom? Why?" Lincoln stated with a sad tone in his voice.

"Listen to me, Lincoln. I didn't feel upset toward you when you asked me that question last night. To tell you the truth, it took a lot of bravery to come up with the right wording for a question like that and for me to come up with the right answer without backing down or causing any harm. You see I had made countless friends over the years who wounded up losing their purpose in life or their families because of what they did. However, there is one tale of one very close friend of mine that I am going to share with you. My friend had been a bad binge for a while even though his wife had to drag him to bed sometimes which is the sad thing but anyways; one night while he was on a binge he chose to read to his son who was close to Lily's age at the time and his kid said something to him which was the ultimate wake-up call to turn his life around. I was comparing you to my dear friend's son in the tale for having the bravery to help me have my wake-up call in spreading my story outside of retirement. You are like your mom, Lincoln." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"Thank you for raising his spirits up again, Leon, little brother." Rita said as she smiled while looking at the sight of Lincoln hugging Leon.

"You're welcome, Rita." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"Thank you, Uncle Leon." Lincoln said with a smile on his face.

"Anytime, Lincoln. If you can why don't you call your sisters from out of their rooms since your mom is nodding, you to do so?" Leon stated while noticing Rita nodding her head for Lincoln to do her a favor.

Lincoln then walked upstairs to tell his sisters to come out of their rooms and they all proceeded to head down towards the dining room. Then Rita went into her and Lynn Sr.'s bedroom so she could grab an extra chair from their closet for Leon to sit in. Once Leon saw what Rita was doing, that is when he proceeded to head into the dining room with a calm look on his face.

Then Lynn Sr. brought out the freshly made goulash from the kitchen to the dining room noticing that everyone was there sitting a little bit patiently. However, before the goulash was served, Rita motioned her hand to get her kids attention.

"Kids, before we eat your father's goulash. I know that you heard me say earlier this dinner was a celebration for an announcement that was made today regarding your Uncle Leon. Well I didn't tell you exactly what it was since I figured I would let your uncle say it rather than me and your father spoil it." Rita stated before she sat back down.

"Well I found out last night, but it went public on television this morning that I'm going to be in this year's Hall of Fame Class. Here's the video recapping the announcement on a sports network which revealed it first thing this morning." Leon stated with a smile on his face as he was pulling up video footage from the morning edition of _the SportsZone_.

While the recap of his Hall of Fame announcement was playing through his cell phone, Leon was trying to reach into his pocket for his handkerchief because he had a stray tear show up on his face. Once the video was finished playing, Leon had put his handkerchief away and saw big smiles coming down on the faces of his nieces and nephew. Then Leon put his cell phone away before he notices that all the Loud children began to hug him.

"Thank you, very much. That means a lot." Leon stated before Lincoln who was the last Loud child to hug him all took their seats.

Then the Loud family and Leon began to eat goulash. It took them a while to eat the dinner and a couple of minutes after eating dinner was when Leon decided to head on back to his hotel room but not before saying goodbye to everybody. While cruising on his way back to the hotel that he was staying at, Leon had realized that the timing of his Hall of Fame announcement and recent family visit was aligned perfectly. However, upon coming to that realization Leon had a tear rolling down his face knowing full well that it would be emotional for him to mention this fact when it comes time for him to practice his Hall of Fame speech.

"_Only a few more days until I return home and get everything prepared for my Hall of Fame moment down in New Orleans. Well it's time to wind down and get some shut eye._" Leon thought to himself once he made it back to the hotel room.


	5. Leon's Big Realization

Eight days had passed by, Leon had packed all his things into his contrivable and he had turned in his hotel key to the front desk manager. Before he could get into his car, Leon notices Rita driving Vanzilla parking right beside him and their dad on the passenger side.

"Have a safe journey back home, kiddo. It was great to see you again." Albert stated after giving Leon a hug.

"It was great seeing you, Dad. I'll promise to come back down again for a visit." Leon stated before Albert got into the car and then turned his attention towards Rita.

"It was wonderful seeing you again, little brother. These past few days were great with you being around and learning to be an uncle. Just that I'd wish you didn't have to leave here so soon." Rita said with a sad look on her face.

"Oh, Sis. Listen to me. You don't ever have to worry about me being far away from you, Dad, or anyone else. Because I have thought about moving down here in this area to be closer to you guys." Leon said with a smile and reassuring tone on his face.

"Leon...it's hard to say how happy I am hearing this." Rita stated as she about to cry.

"It's ok, Rita. This will be happening when I come back from my New Orleans trip. If you're wondering, I'm fine with it that you tell your husband and even Dad about this." Leon said with the smile on his face.

"Ok, thank you, little brother. Shouldn't you head out before traffic gets bad?" Rita asked after looking at her watch.

"Oh, you're right, Sis. I'll talk to you when I make it back home." Leon replied as soon as he started the ignition of his convertible.

Then in that moment Leon drove off while waving goodbye to his sister Rita. However, Rita had to drop off Albert who was still sitting in the passenger's seat back at the retirement home before his dinnertime. Once she dropped off her and Leon's father, Rita was on her way back home.

While on the way back to the house, Rita began to ponder about what Leon had told her right before he left Royal Woods. "_I think Leon living around here will be a good thing. Besides it will help us out as a family, and it is time that the kids need an uncle who will be active in their lives. Is this what you came to realize during your visit other reconciling with me, little brother?_" Rita thought to herself as she was almost on her home street.

Meanwhile, about three hours east of Royal Woods, Leon had made it back to his small house and started to unpack all his things that were in the convertible. Once he got finished unpacking is when Leon grabbed his cell phone and started to dial Rita's cell phone.

"Hi, Sis. Just wanted to call and tell you that I made it back home safely." Leon said once the call went through.

"That's good. I'm glad, little brother. Wait before you hang up there is something I want to ask you." Rita stated on her end of the phone call.

"Sure, what is it?" Leon stated in a natural tone.

"It's about you wanting to move down to Royal Woods. Does it have to do with anything that you learned while you were up here? I mean when you told me this when you left earlier it just came out of nowhere for me." Rita asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, but it was just more than that. You see the more that I got to know your children that was when I realized I had missed out on too much and must become a better uncle for them. Then there was the fact that I wanted to be closer to the family again instead being strained just like when we were teenagers because I don't want to go through all of that again. Also, I came to the realization that the one way that this could be done was to move out of the house that I am in now which is stingy and if I would invite all of you guys it would be crammed in space. Now you understand why I chose to do this, Rita?" Leon replied in an honest tone.

"Yes, Leon. If you want me to I'll have myself or Lynn keep an eye out for any houses in the area for you?" Rita stated on her end of the phone call.

"I would appreciate it a whole lot so it can help me focus on my other trip. Well I better let you go." Leon stated after looking at the battery level on his cell phone.

"Ok, I'll talk to you later, Leon. Bye." Rita stated as she hung up the phone and got out of Vanzilla once it was on the Loud driveway.

Then Rita walked inside her house to see that all her children were watching television and her husband was in the kitchen preparing dinner. After hanging up the keys to Vanzilla on the key rack in the kitchen, Rita greeted her husband Lynn Sr.

"Hi, honey. So how was it with your brother leaving?" Lynn Sr. asked once he turned down the burners of the stove.

"It went ok. I just found out that Leon wants to move around here in Royal Woods once he gets done with his business trip in New Orleans." Rita replied in a quiet tone so that the children wouldn't hear her.

"That's great, Rita. But you seem to be a bit anxious about it." Lynn Sr. stated once he noticed his wife's facial expression.

This is when Rita explained to Lynn Sr. the phone conversation she had with Leon right before she came home, and he immediately understood once she got done with her explanation.


	6. Hall of Fame Traveling Day

A couple of months had passed since Leon had reconciled with his family and he just landed in New Orleans after a decent flight from Detroit in time for Hall of Fame week. Upon checking into the hotel which had been paid for by the WWE, Leon decided to sign some quick autographs and take pictures of fans who were nearby. Then he placed his luggage into the hotel room and pulled out his cell phone from his pocket. "_I wonder if Rita has gotten an update on any houses for me. It gives me something to do before I have to meet up with Shawn, Hunter and some of my old friends later._" Leon thought to himself before dialing the phone.

"Hi, Leon. So, you got to your trip safely." Rita stated once the phone call went through.

"Yes, I did Sis. I was wondering if you have gotten any updates on that favor I asked you about a while back looking for houses in your area that I can move into." Leon said while looking out of the hotel window.

"As a matter of fact, Leon. I had stumbled on a house that's about two blocks north of me which was for sale the other day and I told the relator that you were interested in it. They said that since that nobody else, but you were wanting to get a house on the block that they sold it right away and gave me the papers for you to sign when you get back." Rita said with a smile on her face.

"Oh, thank you so much, Rita. I'd wish to talk to you more about it but I've got an important meet-up that I must attend to. Tell everyone over there I said hello and to not forget to watch the ceremony this Friday night at seven on channel 2." Leon stated as he was about to get off the phone.

"Ok, Leon. I will tell everyone that you said hello. Have a good time. See you when you get back." Rita said as she hung up the phone.

Once Leon put his cell phone in his pocket is when he left the hotel room to proceed towards the hotel lobby. Upon arriving at the hotel lobby, Leon sees a familiar face waving him down by the entrance way to the hotel. Realizing that it was his close friend Shawn Michaels standing there, Leon walked up to him and they gave each other friendly greetings before steeping out of the hotel.

Then Leon saw a limo just a few feet in front of him and Shawn went in there before Leon realizing that the limo was taking them to their destination. The limo drove away from the hotel into the direction of the Superdome where the Hall of Fame ceremony and WrestleMania was going to take place. Once the limo had parked in the back of the Superdome is when Leon and Shawn got out.

After the limo left the Superdome, Leon and Shawn saw Hunter standing there motioning for them to follow him but not before greeting him. Then the three friends headed to a private locker room where they could talk without anyone around and found one labeled with Hunter's name on it which they entered a few minutes later.

"As you know, Leon. Plan on showing up here about two hours before the ceremony tomorrow night for all the photo shoots and getting your Hall of Fame ring. It was something that Vince wanted me to tell you today as a reminder." Hunter said once sat in his chair.

"Alright, thank you for reminding me." Leon said as he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

"Is that your speech you are planning on giving, Leon? It looks about the same if not a little shorter than what my Hall of Fame speech was." Shawn asked after he spat in his empty water bottle.

"Yes, it is Shawn. I figured that I'd write it on my own instead of someone else doing it." Leon replied as he put his paper back in his pocket.

"At least your family will get to hear it from your own words though, Leon." Shawn said while Hunter nodded on.

"That's true, I mean since they will see it on TV not in person. I would have wished that they had seen me get inducted in person but it's a part of life. I extended the invitation to them for them to come down, but they chose to stay due to their conflicting schedules." Leon said with a sigh under his breath.

"We're sorry to hear that, Leon." Hunter and Shawn said in unison.

"It's ok, guys. Besides there is something I haven't told any of our friends including you guys for what I am about to say. I have sold my current house." Leon said with a calm look.

"Wow, Leon. Where are you moving to and when?" Shawn asked out of curiosity.

"I'm moving to the same town that my family lives in just about a block or so from my sister's house. The move won't happen until next week after the post Hall of Fame and WrestleMania events. That visit I made down there two months ago had me see things differently opposed to when I first met you guys many years ago." Leon replied with a calm tone.

"That's good, Leon. Sorry to leave on short notice but I got head over to Vince's office for some meetings. So, I will see you tomorrow." Hunter stated as he, Leon and Shawn were leaving the office.

Then Shawn and Leon were proceeding to head back toward the back-parking lot of the Superdome. Before Leon could get inside the limo to take him back to the hotel, Shawn tapped him on the shoulder.

"Leon, we know that Hunter is a busy guy and I think he will do great at inducting you tomorrow. I just don't want you worrying about what he might say topple your speech and if he hasn't convinced Vince about us doing the hand gesture sign up after you get done tomorrow then I'll see what I can do. See you tomorrow, my friend." Shawn said before he headed back inside the Superdome.

"Thank you, Shawn. See you tomorrow." Leon said right as he stepped inside the limo.

A few minutes later, Leon made it back to the hotel and went to his hotel room to unwind for the rest of the day.


	7. Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

The following day, Leon got up and grabbed his suit which he changed into before leaving the hotel. However, he did grab his speech which was laying by the tv and placed it in his suit jacket before walking out the hotel room door. "_Hmm...I better send Sis a reminder message now._" Leon thought to himself as he pulled out his cell phone in the hotel lobby to send Rita a message reminding her about the Hall of Fame Ceremony being on later. Then Leon got an "ok" response from Rita before he shut off his phone.

Leon got in a limo which was on route to the Superdome and it took him to the back area. By the time he got out of the limo, Leon was greeted by Hunter and Vince who proceeded to take him to a line up area where the fellow Hall of Famers who were also getting inducted were. Realizing that it would a be a few minutes before his turn in the photo lineup, Leon took the time to fix up his suit collar and tie. Once it was Leon's turn, he took a deep breath and did a couple of pictures by himself before Vince pulled him aside.

Vince gave Leon his Hall of Fame ring and embraced him but not before thanking him for his many years of service to WWE and life changes. Then Leon decided to finish up his photo shoot with his newly acquired Hall of Fame ring on and alongside Hunter and Vince. Once he got done with the photo shoot, Leon went into a locker room to see Shawn standing there.

"That's a very nice Hall of Fame ring, Leon." Shawn said after giving Leon a pat on the shoulder.

"Well, it's almost like the one that they gave Kev a couple of years back. But it sure does look nice on me." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"I'm assuming Hunter is still busy with the ring handing outs with Vince. Oh, wait here comes one of the agents that's supposed to be in Gorilla cueing us to head down there now." Shawn stated after he noticed an agent motioning for Shawn and Leon to head towards Gorilla Position.

"Yeah, I was like the second person to get done with the photo shoot and there were like five others once I left the area. So, it could be an hour or to before they get done and Hunter can get to where we are." Leon said in a whispering tone while Shawn nodded as he understood while they were on the walk to Gorilla Position.

Upon arriving at Gorilla Position, Leon and Shawn hung around and talked to the other Hall of Famers with the people that were inducting them. This went on for an hour until Hunter showed up at Gorilla and proceeded to have everyone's attention on the order in which they were going into the ceremony. It was announced that Leon would be right after the announcement of the recipient of the Warrior Award which was about halfway through the ceremony.

Meanwhile, the Loud family was trying to finish up dinner early so they could tune into the Ceremony on tv. It took a few seconds for Rita to remember which channel the ceremony would be on after turning on the television and summoned her family into the living room.

"Oooo. It looks like the ceremony is about the start." Lincoln stated once he sat down.

"Look there's Uncle Leon on the tv." Lori said as the introduction to ceremony was almost done while her siblings had impressed looks upon hearing the statement.

"That's amazing." Rita and Lynn Sr. said in unison.

Once the introduction was over, the host of the Hall of Fame Ceremony proceeded to start the festivities with the first wrestler inducted in the 2018 class. It was an hour and half before the recipient of the Warrior Award got done with their speech and headed back to Gorilla Position. After a short break, the host of the Hall of Fame ceremony went back out in front of the large crowd of fans, wrestlers, legends and Hall of Famers in attendance.

"Our next inductee in the Hall of Fame was one brute that none of his competitors ever tried to cross with every time he stepped in the ring. From defying the odds to win his first WWE Championship at Breakdown 1998 to having multiple titles within the company for a career that spanned 24 years. Here's a look at our next inductee." The host stated before revealing Leon's Hall of Fame video package.

The video package lasted for two and half minutes showing some of Leon's major career milestones while a few wrestlers and personnel were discussing about his career.

"Here to induct Leon "The Brute" S. into the Hall of Fame is a man who needs no introduction. The Cerebral Assassin, The King of Kings, The Game, Triple H." The host stated right before Hunter's music started playing for him to come out of Gorilla.

"What much is there to say about Leon? 6'6, 267 lbs. with the brutes fighting style I have ever come across. There are the many memories that he has given us over the years from winning the WWE Title in an unforgettable four-way match with the industry's well-known names the Undertaker, Kane and Stone-Cold Steve Austin at Breakdown 1998. Also, being a part of a 45-minute classic at Summerslam held in the Nassau Coliseum in a triple threat match with myself and Shawn Michaels which defined our careers. I could list off all the WrestleMania matches, and Survivor Series moments that Leon has provided throughout the years but that would be all night to bash them all. Or I could talk about the good friend that Leon is. I first met Leon right as I made my debut here in the WWE and he was walking around in the leather jacket and blue jeans. He had just debuted for the company about six months prior and he proceeded to introduce himself one day after a live event. It was in that moment, I knew that he had the passion to learn about the business and right after I started hanging out with the Kliq is when I proceeded to introduce Leon to the group since we were a group of guys that wanted to learn. Once Leon learned that me and Shawn were forming DX that he was in full support for it especially all the comedy stuff. Now in more recent days Leon has accepted his role as a family man by being a supportive uncle to a countless number of nieces and one nephew who are watching this at home. Ladies and Gentlemen, here is the next inductee into the 2018 Hall of Fame and my good friend, Leon "The Brute" S." Hunter said his speech and hugged Leon while he made his way to the podium.

"Thank you. It truly means a lot to me. With hard work and serious dedication, the biggest of dreams can come true. That is something I learned and applied every single day during my illustrious twenty-four career in this business. From growing up in a small town in Michigan idolizing the likes of Harley Race and the Von Erichs to standing here saying I'm a trailblazing Hall of Famer. Like Hunter mentioned I was very supportive when he and Shawn had approached me to become a member of DX. You see that was a time when I had to help friends which is something that had been tough to come by for both Hunter and Shawn since they helped me out in my career tremendously. So, this brings up how one of my best Summerslam matches came to be. Hunter asks me if I would be interested in participating in a match alongside him and Shawn at Summerslam which would be at Nassau Coliseum, I said yes and that was when me and Hunter didn't realize that Shawn would help elevate our careers more at the time even though he hadn't competed in four years. There are some people that I would like to thank at this moment. I would like to thank the McMahon family for helping me get my life back on track and for being a part of WWE for so many years. Next, I would thank the Hart Family for training me. I would also like to thank all the fans and superstars whom I have had the honor to travel and compete alongside with over the years. Then there is my family back home in Michigan who are watching this right now and I want to especially thank them for letting me be who I am and followed my dream. I love you all so much. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is how we started, and it is how we are going to end it, Leon "The Brute" S. has left the building." Leon said his Hall of Fame speech with a powerful tone.

Once Leon took a few steps away from the podium, the crowd gave him a standing ovation and noticed that Hunter, Shawn, and some of their Kliq buddies were coming out on stage. Realizing what was happening Leon held up the Kliq sign and got in formation next to his friends on stage before they did a group hug.

After the ceremony was over which was an hour later, Leon went back to the hotel since there no other plans for the Hall of Famers besides Hunter reminding him to show up at WrestleMania tomorrow to be recognized as part of the Hall of Fame class during the show. Once Leon got to his hotel room, he took off his suit and changed into pajamas before turning on his phone. Leon noticed that he got a few complimentary messages on his speech from Lori, Lincoln, Luna, and Lynn in which he replied with thank you. Then Leon decided to call Rita.

"Hi, Sis. I didn't mean to wake you." Leon stated once the call went through.

"Hi, Leon. It's fine. By the way, we did watch the ceremony and your speech was awesome that it had us feel proud for you." Rita said in a calm tone.

"Thank you, Sis." Leon said in a calm tone.

"I hope you won't be mad at me, but I told the kids after your speech about you moving into the Royal Woods area." Rita said in a hesitant tone.

"I'm not mad, Sis. I feel relieved that you did it now because we wouldn't know how much longer the secret could have been kept before someone said anything." Leon said in a relief tone. 


	8. A New Start in Leon's Life

Two days later, Leon was on a flight back from New Orleans and ready to begin the next chapter in his life. "_I am looking forward to moving into my new house and seeing my family again._" Leon thought to himself as he looked out the airplane window and briefly glancing at his Hall of Fame ring before taking a short nap. An hour passed before the intercom announced to the passengers that they were closing in on their destination of Michigan. Once the flight had landed safely, Leon had gotten his luggage from the overhead compartment and started to walk out of the airport but not before turning on his cell phone.

Then Leon had to find his convertible in the parking garage and once he found it was when he proceeded to make a call for a rental truck that would haul his things from his current house to the house that he was about to move into. It wasn't a problem for Leon once the rental company to have the truck haul his things and haul it for him immediately. Once that was settled, Leon decided to call his sister, Rita.

"Hi, Leon. So, you had a good flight?" Rita stated once she answered the phone call.

"Yes, Sis. Anyways, can you do me a huge favor?" Leon asked on his end of the phone call.

"Sure, what is it?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"Would you unlock the front door to my new house and place the contract that you told me about by the mailbox? The reason is that I have a rental company hauling all of my belongings over there as we speak and should be there in about an hour." Leon stated his request.

"I will do that for you. Oh, and Leon just to throw this out there as an invitation but Lucy is having a reading at the theatre later tonight. You're more than welcome to join us but it's ok either way." Rita answered.

"Thank you, Sis. I will try my best to make it for her reading. Well I better get off since the rental truck is waiting outside for me. See you later." Leon stated once he parked his car in front of his place.

"Ok, Leon. See you later." Rita stated as she hung the phone.

Leon proceeded to help the volunteers from the rental company place his belongings in the back of the rental truck to help make time go faster and to also ensure that anything was in there safely. Once all of Leon's belongings were stored in the rental truck, he had to drive on ahead at a decent pace so the rental truck wouldn't be left behind while they were traveling to his new house in Royal Woods. By the time he had reached his new house, Leon only had to wait for a minute on the rental truck to show up. Once he saw the rental truck come to a complete stop, Leon then headed to the front door to see if it was unlocked and it was. So, Leon opened the door all the way for the volunteers to unload his belongings into his new house and while they were doing that he saw the contract to the house at the spot like he told Rita to place it at earlier and he signed it on the dotted line.

Noticing that the volunteers were unloading his bed, Leon decided to peek inside of his new house and told the volunteers to place his bed in the first room on the left since that had the most space for a bedroom. Upon going back outside to see if there were anymore belongings that had to be unloaded the volunteers nodded their heads and Leon proceeded to pay them for their service before they left. "_Now this is officially my house. Since my bed is put up and everything else including my suitcase is in here. Let's see I only got a half hour before Lucy's reading starts and the clothes I got on should be fine for the occasion. Well I could finish unpacking later..."_ Leon thought to himself after looking at the clock on his cell phone and placing the contract to his house inside a storage room closet.

Leon was close to the Royal Woods theatre before he notices that parking was crammed and had no other choice but to park across the street from the theatre. Once he entered the theatre, Leon had to sit in one of the back rows due to how crowded it got just only for a reading fest featuring one of his nieces. Upon hearing the speaker on stage introducing Lucy so she could start her reading, Leon turned his phone on silent and sat up attentively.

While listening to Lucy's reading, Leon had a smile on his face and noticed that his family was sitting in the front row having the same facial expression. However, once Lucy got done with her reading everyone in the audience gave her a standing ovation before she walked off the stage. Then people were exiting the theatre since Lucy's reading was the last reading of the reading fest. Leon waited a few minutes before getting out of the row that he was sitting at and notices that his family had just walked outside.

"You did a great job on the reading, Lucy." Rita and Lynn Sr. said once they stepped outside.

"Thanks." Lucy said in a calm tone.

After Lucy said that, Rita notices that Leon is outside the theatre and walked in his direction. However, Albert, Leon and Rita's father, who had also attended the reading decided to walk to where Leon was standing as well.

"Hi, Dad and Sis." Leon said as he saw Albert and Rita coming toward him to give him a hug.

"Hello, kiddo. Congratulations on your Hall of Fame speech the other day, I got to watch it yesterday and I'm very proud of you." Albert said with a calm tone on his face.

"Thank you, Dad. I have something to tell you. I now live here as of today." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"That's great, Leon. Well I better get back on home then. So, see you soon, son." Albert said before he headed onto the bus heading for Sunset Canyon Retirement Home.

"Ok, see you later, Dad." Leon said as he waved him off before turning his attention to Rita.

"We're happy that you came to the reading, Leon. Especially after the long day of traveling and moving that you had to do." Rita said with a smile on her face.

"Thanks, Sis. The reason I would say I wasn't tired is the little nap I took on the plane ride earlier. So, I am going to say hello to your family before I head back home because I haven to finish unpacking my things." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"Ok, Leon. Tell me once you get done unpacking because we might stop by for a visit soon." Rita said before Leon took a couple of steps.

"Yes, I'd like that, Sis." Leon said with a humble tone.

Then Leon started to walk over where the other Loud family members were standing, and Rita looked on with a gracious smile on her face. Once Leon tapped on Lynn Sr.'s shoulder, he proceeded to shake his hand before hugging him. "Uncle Leon!" The Loud Children said in unison before they started hugging him individually.

"Congratulations on your reading, Lucy." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"Thanks, Uncle Leon." Lucy said with a calm tone.

"Your ring looks shinier in person, Uncle Leon." Lola stated as she noticed Leon's Hall of Fame ring.

"It really does." Lori said upon noticing the ring.

"Ok, girls. I think your uncle admires the fact that you like his ring and all. But don't you have something special that you want to tell us, Leon." Lynn Sr. said in a natural tone.

"Yes, as matter of fact. As of today, I now live here in Royal Woods. It will be a day or so before you guys can visit me at my new house since I got to unpack everything and clean everything up." Leon said with a smile on his face.


	9. Trip to the Supermarket

Upon arriving at his house, Leon started to unpack all the boxes which were placed in the living room. It took him a couple of hours to sort all the items where he wanted them in the house. Then Leon began to unwind on his couch until his stomach started to growl and suddenly he remembered leftover food from lunch which he heated up in the microwave.

After eating his leftovers is when Leon went up to his bedroom to retire for the night but not before glancing at the newly occupied house. "_I had a long day of traveling and everything else in between. But it's sure nice to be back sleeping on my own bed._" Leon thought to himself before he started to fall asleep.

The following morning, Leon woke up and took a nice shower to get ready for the day. Once he got out of the shower and all dressed up, Leon heard a knock coming from the front door. Leon opened the door a slight crack to see who it was first before opening it all the way.

"Oh, good morning. Sis." Leon stated once he noticed that it was only Rita standing there at the front door.

"Good morning, Leon. I wanted to bring you by breakfast and wanted to see your house." Rita said as she handed Leon a bag of breakfast food.

"Yeah, come on in. I finished unpacking as soon as I came back from the reading last night." Leon said as he let Rita inside his house.

It was in that moment when Leon gave Rita a tour of what he did to the house. Once they got done with the tour, Rita was impressed with what Leon had done to the place.

"Seems like you're in need of groceries and supplies, Leon. I can tell you that the local supermarket is not far from here and they give out the best deals on anything you need." Rita said upon noticing Leon's cabinets.

"Yeah...I was planning on doing that today. But thank you for giving me a recommendation, Sis. However, to be honest with you I don't know if all of the things I need can fit into my vehicle." Leon said in response.

"Hmm...well how about you go grocery shopping alongside with me today? Since it's that time of week again when I have to go to grocery shopping for my family anyways and also it would be your first-time shopping around here." Rita asked out of curiosity.

"I would like that, Sis. Since it can help me familiarize myself on the deals around here." Leon replied with a smile on his face.

It was then that Leon had gotten into his car and followed Rita's trail to the supermarket. By the time he had reached the parking lot of the supermarket, Leon had to check not only to make sure he had his wallet on him but a way to pay for all the things he needed and luckily he did once it dawned on him that his wallet was in his glove compartment. Upon taking a sales ad for the supermarket and entering the store, Leon notices that Rita had just pulled up.

Then Leon proceeded to grab a shopping cart once he saw Rita enter the store and they went on their separate ways. This only lasted for a while until Leon had a cart full of items and went into the direction of the checkout register to see that Rita was standing in the next register. When it came time for Leon to pay for the groceries and supplies that he bought, he notices the calm look that his sister had on her face.

"So, did you find everything ok, Leon?" Rita asked once she and Leon were out of the supermarket.

"Yes, I sure did. Guess I won't be needing this any time soon." Leon said as he threw the sale ad in a nearby trash can.

"Can I ask you something, Leon?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"Sure, Rita. What is it?" Leon replied while he was loading his groceries and supplies to both his car and Vanzilla.

"Why did you use a sale paper while in the supermarket?" Rita replied with a confused look.

"Well...it's actually that I use ads to shop for sales or a method which is allowed in some places that I used to do but not anymore known as comparison shopping. You see I try to save up on my money if possible. So, I don't flash it all out like everybody else that you see on tv. It's just like..." Leon replied with a calm tone.

"You mean like how Dad wanted us to learn the value of the dollar with hard work." Rita said with a smile on her face.

Leon nodded his head once he finished loading all his groceries and supplies. So, in that moment, Rita and Leon went back to Leon's house so they could drop off the necessities that Leon got from the supermarket.


	10. Niece's Plea: Are You Ready?

Once Rita left the house after helping Leon unload all his groceries and supplies is when Leon sat on his sofa to take a short nap. Upon waking from the nap, Leon hears a knock coming from his front door and checks to see who it is. Then Leon opened the door once to see someone with a pink hairdo, dress and white heels standing there.

"Sorry, do I know you?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"Uncle Leon, it's me. Luna." The girl said in a British accent.

"Luna?! I'm sorry if I couldn't recognize you there. It's just that I never seen you like this before." Leon replied in a shocking tone.

"I get it, Uncle Leon. It's just no one in my family understands that's what the producers of a show I sent in my music had me do since it wouldn't fit the person singing the song in the video if I win it all nationally. But..." Luna stated before she started to feel gloomy.

"They're turning you into something that you're not. Luna, do what makes you feel happy. If you have a different song in mind and then go for it." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"Thank you, Uncle Leon. What if the producers mess with my song?" Luna asked out of concern.

"Leave that to me. I don't want to see one of my nieces or nephews get sad because of people telling them to change into people that they're not." Leon said in a reassuring tone.

Luna felt better about her situation before leaving Leon's house. Once Luna had left the house, Leon had pulled out his cell phone to investigate his contact information for Shawn. Then Leon decided to call Shawn and it didn't take him long before the call went through.

"Hello, Leon. How's things going in your new house?" Shawn asked.

"Things are going good. I just unpacked everything last night and went to the store today. Anyways, that's not the only reason why I wanted to call you, Shawn." Leon replied.

"Well that's good, Leon. It seems that something is troubling you, my friend." Shawn asked.

"Yes, there is, and I was wondering if you and even a couple of old DX running mates could come down here by me for a couple of days. It's to help me take care of a personal matter." Leon said with a calm tone.

"Well I've been meaning to scout talent in Michigan for Hunter anyways. So, you can count me in, and I'll notify the others. This is the first time that you've come asking for our help with a family matter since we made that friendship oath about us having each other's backs regardless of the situation." Shawn said with a calm tone.

"Thank you, Shawn." Leon said in response.

Then Leon proceeded to hang up the phone and placed it on the living room table. Suddenly, it started to rain outside, and Leon looked out from his front window with a gazed look on his face. "_I hope everything goes alright with Luna. I mean she is in some ways like how I was when I was her age with the intent of following dreams and making them happen. That's why I want to be very supportive as her uncle._" Leon thought to himself before walking away from the window.

The following day, Leon woke up to hear a knock on his door and upon getting dressed is when he answered the door. Leon's facial expression was a calm one when he saw that it was Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg, Sean Waltman, and Billy Gunn. Upon greeting his friends is when Leon gave them the tour of his house.

"How was the flight?" Leon asked as he poured his friends a cup of water.

"The flight was alright Leon. We chose to stay at a hotel that you told us about a while back." Shawn said in response.

"I see you guys took up on my advice. So, I guess Hunter's busy with things back at headquarters." Leon said with a calm tone.

"Yes, Leon. But he sent you his warm wishes from all of us." Shawn stated in a calm manner.

"So, do you have any idea on what the personal matter that you were telling Shawn about Leon?" Sean asked out of curiosity.

"Ok, here goes. You guys might have heard of that show _America's Next Hitmaker_. Anyways, one of my nieces who I am close with had made it to the finals on the show with a song and the producers had her go through a 180 change in her real personality. For reasons being that it wouldn't fit the right mold with song association, and she feels that it's not the real her with what has happened. It's gotten out of hand to the point that my sister or her family for that matter won't recognize her. So, to cheer up my niece, I told her to play a song that makes her happy and try to be herself." Leon replied before taking a sip of water.

"If I am getting this right, it is like a gimmick change that your niece had no control over despite being a contestant on a game show. I mean we all have been there ourselves or fought people with bad gimmicks that they control over." Shawn said in analyzing Leon's statement.

"If you put it that way, then yes. However, she started to ask me what would happen if the producers try to interfere during her performance. That is when I thought how about a run-in to prevent that from happening." Leon said with a calm voice.

"How do you suppose we are going to do that, Leon?" Sean asked out of curiosity.

"We'll find an area backstage and if the producers make any suspicious moves like Leon's talking about that is when we strike." Shawn said in response.

"Yes, that sounds like a perfect idea to me." Leon said in response.

Then Leon went into his closet after all his friends agreed on the plan to find a prized possession of his that he was planning on bringing to the site. It didn't take Leon long to find what he was looking for and the clothes that he was going to wear for Luna's audition. Once he came down with everything in hand, Leon had a smile on his face.

"It looks like the band is back together. Why are you bringing your prized guitar, Leon?" Shawn stated once Leon made it back to their group of friends.

"Well it's been a long time since I last played it and this guitar as you guys may recall helped me out a lot during the rehab stints that Vince had me go to. Besides it will be a surprise for my family just like our plan is." Leon said in response.

"I get it now, Leon. But what time should we be heading that way? I mean me, Sean, Billy and Road Dogg here will follow you up there since we don't know where we are going." Shawn asked after checking the time on his phone.

"I would suggest that we leave here now. The reason I'm saying this is that the last activity I attended for one of my other nieces parking was a mess despite leaving about half hour before the thing began." Leon said as he was opening the front door.

This is when Leon, Shawn, Sean, and their other former DX running mates left Leon's house for the building where Luna's audition for _America's Next Hitmaker_ was going to be at. By the time that the group showed up to the building, there was a sigh of relief that parking was easily accessible. Upon entering the building, it was decided that Leon gave his guitar to Shawn while he went on ahead to find Rita and her family likewise the others walked into a far corner of the building so they could do their part of the plan laid out earlier in the day.

Once Leon found Rita and her family, he waved at them before taking a seat between Rita and Lori. Noticing the distraught looks on his sister and her family's face, Leon did his best to cheer them up before Luna entered the stage.

Then it came time for the producers to announce the next person as a different name, but she looked to be the same person that Leon had encountered the day before at his house. "_Come on, Luna. You got to remember the talk we had yesterday. Do the right thing._" Leon thought to himself as he stared at his niece who was hesitant to perform on stage. Rita was looking at Leon's facial expression with a bit of suspicion. The moment came when Luna removed the costume and reverted to her normal self which made the producers angry towards her.

Luna began to play a song that she felt was more like herself and the producers were thinking of ways to sabotage the performance. Leon took immediate notice of this and was getting up from his seat.

"That's the signal, guys. Are you ready?" Shawn said once he saw Leon standing up.

Sean, Billy, and Road Dogg nodded their heads to follow Shawn in the backstage area. However, they didn't take only a few steps before a security guard stopped them and requested for backup which was on the stage area. "_Oh, geez they got spotted. Time for Plan B._" Leon thought to himself as he notices a couple of security guards heading towards the back area. Then Leon walked out of the row and saw a security guard walking to the back area in which he whispered in a very stern tone as a warning for the guards not to touch him or his friends. The guard ran off and dispatched the others to step away from Shawn and his friends.

Meanwhile, Leon notices that the producers were going after some power cords to shut down Luna's performance. That is when Leon walked on the stage stairs while knuckling up his fists. However, Shawn and the others decided to hasten away from backstage and instead walked up to get a front row seat. Suddenly, Rita sees what is transpiring and is a bit in shock from where she was sitting at to the point where she got her family's attention.

Once the producers saw Leon coming towards them, they fell onto the ground near a shipping crate. Realized that they were dazed, Leon put them in the crate and decided to watch the end of Luna's performance form backstage. After the performance was over, the crowd gave Luna a standing ovation. Then Leon walked over to the stage where Luna was and had a smile on his face. Before Leon could say anything, he motioned for Shawn and his old DX running mates to come stand by him for a minute.

"This is my niece, Luna and down there is her family. These are some of my friends which you probably saw on the TV the other day: my close friend Shawn Michaels, Sean Waltman, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg." Leon said the introductions.

After everyone greeted each other, Leon briefly explained the reason why Shawn and his old DX running mates were down in Royal Woods. Then Shawn and the group of friends confirmed it as the truth before leaving the building for Detroit. However, before the group could say goodbye to Leon and their newfound friends, Shawn had to give Leon his guitar back. Once the group left, Leon soon joined his family outside of the building.

"I want to thank you for helping me, Uncle Leon." Luna said once she hugged Leon.

"You're welcome, Luna." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"I never knew you had a guitar." Luna stated with a curious look.

"It's that I've kept this guitar locked up for a long time because I hadn't found the purpose to play it." Leon said with a natural tone on his face.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked out of concern.

"You see, Luna. I first got this guitar to help me when I was away at a rehab facility during my wrestling career because someone told me that playing the instrument and learning songs would treat me in which it did. However, when I found out that you have a passion for music that was when I thought to myself I got a new purpose in playing this guitar again." Leon replied with a smile on his face.


	11. Fateful Trip to the Mall

An hour had passed, Leon entered his house with his prized guitar in tow and went to sit down on his sofa. Then Leon began to play with his guitar to not only see if the strings were still in tact but, a tune was starting to stick into his head. The session lasted for a short while before Leon started to feel tired and put his guitar in his bedroom. Before he headed to take a shower, Leon had gotten a message on his phone from Shawn saying that him and his other friends had made it to Detroit. Once Leon got out of the shower, he went right to sleep.

The following morning, Leon was woken up by his cell phone going off. Once he grabs his cell phone from his bedside is when he answers it.

"Morning, Leon. Are you feeling ok?" Rita said once the call began.

"Yes, I'm ok, Sis. I was getting up and around. So, what's up?" Leon said in response.

"I was wondering if I could stop by for a visit in about a hour." Rita answered in response.

"Sure thing, Sis. Is any of the kids or Lynn coming with you?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"No, just me. They're all resting still after Luna's performance last night." Rita replied.

"Ok, then see you in an hour." Leon said as he was going to hang up his cell phone.

Leon placed his phone on the bed while he was getting dressed. While Leon was on his last bite of a quick breakfast, he heard a knock on the front door. "_Rita's here. Wow I timed it just right then._" Leon thought to himself right before he opened the door for his sister, Rita.

"Do you want something to drink, Sis?" Leon asked once Rita took a seat in the dining room.

"Water, will be fine, Leon." Rita replied while Leon was getting two cups out from his cupboard.

"Is there something that you wanted to talk to me about in person, Sis?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"Well, I just wanted to ask you about last night right before Luna performed her song that you had a suspicious look on your face, Leon." Rita replied out of concern.

"Ok, about that well you see Luna had come over here the night before last feeling distraught about what she had to do, and I could tell that she wanted to do what was best for her, so I told her to go for that. I think out of all your kids, she's the one that I would say is close connection to me. That is why I went out of my way to make sure that no one messed with her performance last night like you saw." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"You are being a supportive uncle to my children makes me happy, Leon. I noticed it a little bit when you were showing Luna your guitar last night. Speaking of which, how is the guitar going for you?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"My guitar is in good shape, had to test it last night to make sure so that in case if Luna or anyone else wants me to join in on a music session that its already to go." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"There is another thing I want to ask you, Leon. It's something I didn't want to ask you in front of anyone else. Have you given any thoughts of finding a woman to date you?" Rita asked out of concern.

"Well, Sis. It's umm... how to say this, very difficult for me." Leon replied.

"What do you mean difficult, Leon?" Rita asked out of concern.

"It's that the relationships I've been in which was actually one that ended on a sour note because me and the woman I was in love with were naïve and took the relationship way too fast before I wounded up driving her away. This was many years ago during the heyday of my wrestling career. I mean she would have been the love of my life if my regret of not ending the relationship had anything to do with it. That is technically one of the reasons why for the rehab stints is the emotional pain I've felt from leaving _her_." Leon replied with a sigh under his breath.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Leon." Rita said with an apologetic tone.

"It's ok, Sis." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"What ever happened to her? I mean did she try getting in touch with you after a stay at rehab, Leon." Rita asked out of concern.

Leon then got up to head into his storage closet to pull down a weathered shoe box in which he brought over to the dining room. Rita then opened the shoe box to see a bunch of photos and old love letters stacked on top of each other. However, by the time all the contents were on the table, a cut out of a newspaper article came out in which Rita looked at carefully. By the time she had got done reading the article, Rita showed a sad look on her face.

"She died? I'm very sorry, Leon." Rita said as she put the article down.

"Yes, Sis. She was killed in a serious car crash while on her way home from a job interview in Grand Rapids. I found out the day after she died because I was touring in Detroit at the time and had asked my boss if I could take some time off so that I could attend the funeral. I will never forget what happened at the funeral, after I gave her parents my condolences is when her sister tried to cause a scene between me and them because I wasn't around. I mean most of her family still respects me and understands all the changes I've gone through since I keep in contact with them occasionally. However, I haven't contacted her sister since the funeral which has been about three years now." Leon replied with a sigh.

"Oh, do you have any possible ideas on where that sister might be living at?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"Well, the last I knew it was somewhere around here in Royal Woods or Hazeltucky." Leon replied to the best of his knowledge.

"Ok, Leon. Just wondering is all. Oh, look at the time. I was supposed to meet my family at the mall in a half hour. Do you want to come?" Rita asked after checking the time on her watch.

"Sure, Sis. Just let me put this stuff back in the storage closet." Leon said with a smile on his face.

Once Leon put the shoe box back in the closet is when he grabbed a light jacket and started up his contrivable to head for the mall. Since he had shown up to the mall a few minutes before Rita and her family, Leon decided to venture inside the main lobby area which would be the perfect spot to wait on them. However, right as he was about to take a seat on the nearest beach Leon sees a familiar face coming up to him and he became speechless.

"It sure has been a long time. Leon?!" The woman stated as she stood in front of Leon.

"Hey, Karen. Surprised to see you here? I mean you tried to run me out of town the last time we talked at your sister's funeral." Leon said in a neutral tone.

"You know that my sister loved you with all of her heart but instead you chose to get into trouble with your career and friends..." Karen said in a stern tone.

"I am aware of that, Karen. But I was on the verge of trying to win back Sharon's heart right before the accident. There is something that you probably didn't understand the pain and regrets I was going through back then all the way up to the day of her funeral." Leon said as he was about to get up from the bench.

"Leon, I do understand the pain that you went through and still see it to this very day. Yes, I know about your stints at the rehab facilities were for you to deal with the guilt and regret for making the mistake of leaving the relationship with my sister. That also does mean I know of your retirement from wrestling and being in the Hall of Fame. There is one thing I want to ask you. Will you forgive me for causing that fight at the funeral?" Karen said in a calm tone.

"Of course, Karen." Leon replied as he embraced Karen.

"Before I go Leon there was something that I need to show you if you can follow me to my car in the parking lot." Karen said in an assuring tone.

Then Leon followed Karen out to the mall parking lot to where her car and noticed there was a little girl in a car seat. While staring at the little girl is when Leon notices that there were some features on the girl that looked like him. In that moment, Karen pulled out a letter from her pocket for Leon to read and proceeded to get the girl out of the car. "_Dear Leon, I wanted to you know that you have a daughter and her name is Nicole. I am writing this to tell you that if anything bad ever happens to me I want you to take care of her and have her live a happy life. I just want you to know that no matter what happened in the past between us, I will always love you. Thank you for everything. Sharon._" The letter that Leon read transcribed and he put it in his pocket before a tear began to drip down on his face.

"Nicole, this is your father." Karen said as she escorted Nicole to Leon.

"Hi, Nicole." Leon waved once he got down on knee level.

However, Nicole walked up to Leon and tearfully embraced into his arms. "_She is my child. Oh, Sharon I wish you were to see this._" Leon thought to himself while embracing Nicole. Then Leon put Nicole back in her car seat so he could have something private to say for Karen.

"So, what do I need to do in order get custody of Nicole?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"Well, you have to show up at the courthouse a couple of days from now? The reason I say this is that the judge has to hand it over to you and my parents have all of Nicole's medical records which we will give them to you, so you have an idea on what she is allergic to." Karen replied with no hesitation.

"That sounds wonderful, Karen. See you guys in a couple of days." Leon said with a smile on his face.

Once Karen with Nicole in the backseat began to pull out from the parking lot, Leon started to walk back inside the mall. However, Leon turned his head for a second to see that Karen and Nicole were waving at him in which he proceeded to wave back at them. "_I will never forget this moment as long as I live. It has given me a new role and purpose in life. I feel very happy to embrace it and will get everything set up for my daughter's arrival._" Leon thought to himself as he stepped inside the mall.

Upon walking towards the bench that he was sitting at earlier, Leon notices that Rita was standing there waiting on him.

"Hi, Sis. So where is everybody else?" Leon asked Rita out of curiosity.

"They just split up and went into different stores about five minutes ago. I told them to meet back up at the food court so we all could have lunch together." Rita said in response.

"I see..." Leon said as he wiped something off his face with a napkin.

"Are you okay, Leon?" Rita asked out of concern.

"Yes, Sis. It's just that I'm a little emotional right now..." Leon said in a natural tone.

"What happened, Leon?" Rita asked as she noticed Leon's facial expression.

"I got to made amends with the sister of the woman that I had fallen in love with years ago. There was someone very important I got to meet for the first time: my own daughter. I couldn't believe it either until the sister gave me a letter from my old flame right before she died confirming it to be true. Here's the letter if you want to look at it, Sis." Leon replied while hiding tears before pulling out the letter.

Rita proceeded to read Sharon's final letter to Leon and while she was reading it is when Leon had been wiping off the tears from his eyes with a napkin. Then, Rita began to feel emotional once she got done reading the letter and handed it back to Leon.

"How come Nicole isn't with you right now, Leon?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"Well, I need to show up in court to switch over custodial rights since she has been with her mother's family since birth and her aunt told me that they were going to bring her medical records by for me to look at so that I have an idea of what she's allergic to. I figured it would be fair since that gives me sometime to spruce up the house and decorate it a little bit before she comes." Leon said in response.

"I understand, Leon." Rita said with a smile on her face.

Leon proceeded to look around furniture stores in the mall to see if they would deliver children's mattress set and dresser to his house; luckily it didn't take him long to find a store that met his requirements and would do the delivery for free just the only thing he had to pay was the mattress set and dresser. Once he got out of the furniture store with the copy of the invoice order in his pocket, Leon started to head for the food court since it was getting closer to the lunch hour.

Suddenly, Leon's phone starts vibrating while he was deciding on where to eat at. Taking a glance at the number who sent him a message, Leon realized it was his late lover Sharon's mother. "_Hi, Leon. How was it seeing Nicole for the first time today?_" The message read and Leon had realized right there and then that the family knew about Karen bringing Nicole to meet Leon. "_It was wonderful. She looks a little like me but mostly is a lot like Sharon. She began to cry right after Karen told her that I was her father. It had me tearing up inside you know._" Leon replied. "_I understand, Leon. That's what me and my husband thought would happen once we figured it would be best for Nicole to go and live with you. So, I guess Karen told you all about the extra proceedings that you have to endure first." _Sharon and Karen's mother replied. "_Yes, she did but this gives me time to set up Nicole's room._" Leon stated in a response. "_Of course, Leon. One thing doesn't go overboard on setting the room up. The reason is that when see you in a couple of days, me and my husband will have Nicole's belongings in a trailer." _Sharon's mother said in response. "_Ok. See you guys in a couple of days_." Leon replied before putting his cell phone back in his pocket.

After placing the phone away, Leon had made his decision on where to eat for lunch. Once Leon had ordered and picked up his lunch, that was when he decided to find a table to sit at. However, Leon had found a very long table and saw that it was empty. Upon taking a seat is when Leon notices some familiar faces coming to the long table to accompany him, it was Rita and her family.

"Hi, Uncle Leon." The Loud Children said once they sat down.

"Hello, everyone. It looks like you are all but worn out, Lynn." Leon stated once he noticed the way Lynn Sr. sat down on the table.

"I was with Lana, Lola, Lisa and Lily the entire time. So, I had a handful." Lynn Sr. said in response.

Leon had a smile on his face and suddenly he sees that his nieces were showing him what they got at the mall. However, Leon took the time to look at the items while enjoying small bites of his lunch. By the time Leon got done looking at everything is when he saw Rita come back with her family's orders for lunch.

Once Leon had finished eating his lunch, he put his trash in the nearby bin and sat back down in the long table. While waiting for Rita and her family to finish up with their lunch, Leon's phone vibrates from his pocket and it was another message. "_Hi, Leon. This is Karen. If you're wondering how I got your number, I got it from my mother, and she told me the details of your conversation earlier. Anyways, I am going to send you a picture that Nicole just made once we got back that she wanted you see right away._" The message stated. "_Ok, would love to see it and wanted to thank you for letting me have the opportunity to meet with my daughter today._" Leon replied.

"What is it, Uncle Leon?" Lincoln asked upon looking at Leon's facial expression.

"I was answering a message on my phone, Lincoln." Leon said in a calm tone.

"Oh ok, I was concerned is all." Lincoln said in response.

"Thank you for your concern, Lincoln. I am going to be alright." Leon said with a smile on his face.

Right upon making that statement, Leon receives the picture message from Karen and the picture was that of a drawing that Nicole made of her standing next to Leon. Then a message came just a minute later stating, "_You are welcome, Leon. I hope you loved the drawing and I'll try to have my parents pack it along with the rest of her things._" Leon then scrolled backed up to the picture and made it as his phone's screensaver. In that moment, Rita and her family finished with their lunch before planning on putting their bags into Vanzilla which was parked a couple of spots away from Leon's car. The Loud Children had gone on ahead while Rita and Lynn Sr. stayed since Leon motioned for them to stay for a second.

"Yes, Leon. What is it?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"I have a picture that I want you guys to see." Leon pulls out his phone and finds the picture message.

"Who is the little girl in the picture, Leon?" Lynn Sr. asked out of curiosity.

"Is she who I think it is, Leon?" Rita asked out of suspicion.

"Yes, she is Nicole. My daughter." Leon answered with a smile on his face.

"Daughter?! That would make her my niece. But how, Leon?" Lynn Sr. said out of concern.

"Rita will explain everything to you on the way home. I know it will be hard for your kids to understand everything about their cousin but, for now just tell them the same thing. It's the best thing that I can do." Leon replied with an assuring tone.

"Alright, we will do that, Leon." Lynn Sr. said in response.

"So, what are you going to do now, Leon?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"I am going to find a hardware place to find some paint so I can figure out what color to paint my daughter's room and I should be back home after that." Leon said in response.


	12. A Daunting Explanation Revealed!

Rita and Lynn Sr. walked to the exit of the mall while giving each other concerned looks. This led Lynn standing next to a pole nearby the mall parking lot and refused to take another step. Rita, with a big sigh realized that she had to tell her husband the truth that Leon wanted her to say earlier.

"Rita, aren't you forgetting to tell me something?" Lynn Sr. asked in a calm tone.

"Oh, you mean what my brother said just a couple of minutes ago." Rita replied.

"Yes, Rita." Lynn Sr. said out of concern.

"Ok, Lynn. You see Nicole is Leon's daughter through a woman that Leon had met and fell in love with a few years ago. However, the sad thing is that the mother was killed in a car accident sometime after Nicole was born. Also, my brother had explained to me that leaving her was the biggest regret he ever made, and which led him to the rehab stints in his career is because that's how much he loved this woman. So, the woman's family had been raising Nicole since the funeral and they know of the changes my brother has made. It's because of this that they are wanting my brother to show up at the courthouse for custody proceedings of Nicole in a couple of days." Rita said in response.

"That is one of the most sobbing stories I've heard, Rita. How are we going to explain this to the kids remember what your brother said that it would be difficult for them to understand?" Lynn Sr. asked out of curiosity.

"Hmm...maybe we should give them little hints before telling them about their cousin." Rita replied with a smirk on her face.

"Sounds like a great idea to me." Lynn Sr. said with a smile on his face as he and Rita were getting closer to Vanzilla.

Once Rita and Lynn Sr. got inside of Vanzilla, the Loud Children started to ask them why it took them so long to get out of the mall. Realizing that Lynn Sr. might blab the entire scheme to their children, Rita told them that their uncle wanted to thank everyone for the mall trip and that put a sigh of relief on Lynn's face.

Upon reaching their house is when Rita and Lynn Sr. walked into the living room to turn on the television and found a show which just started was having an episode describing people in Leon and Nicole's situation. Suddenly, it was in that moment when Rita and Lynn Sr. realized that they found the best clue to give their children.

"Kids come down here and watch this show with your mother and I." Lynn Sr. shouted to the Loud children who were upstairs still even though they put their things from the mall away.

It only took a few seconds before all the Loud Children came down to the living room and started to watch the program alongside with their parents. However, as the program progressed some of the Loud Children were starting to figure out that something was up because it was a bit odd for them to watch a program outside of _The Dream Boat_ or any of their own favorite TV shows with their parents.

Once the program was over, Rita shut off the TV and started to notice the suspicious looks on some of her children's faces. Seeing that his wife was not going to be stern about the sight that was before them, Lynn Sr. had to be calm for what was about to happen.

"Mom, what is going on?" Lori asked out of concern.

"Yeah, why have us watch that show in the first place." Lola stated in a calm tone.

"I know you guys have your concerns, but there's a reason why me and your mom had you watch this show. It's to help you give an understanding of what your uncle is dealing with right now. Luna, where are you going..." Lynn Sr. stated right before Luna stormed out of the Loud House.

"I'll go after her, Lynn." Rita said right before walking out of the house to go after Luna.

Then Lynn Sr. proceeded to explain to the other Loud Children about Leon and Nicole's situation. At first, the Loud Children were a bit sad until they realized that they were happy about getting a new cousin into their extended family. However, they were beginning to worry about Luna and Rita since they hadn't made it back to the house.

Meanwhile, Rita driving Vanzilla began to do a block by block search for Luna and when she was on the block where Leon lived on is when gave her brother a call.

"Hi, Sis." Leon stated once the call went through.

"Hi, Leon. Have you seen Luna anywhere?" Rita stated with a concern tone.

"No, I just got back from the mall about five minutes ago. What happened?" Leon replied with concern.

"Me and Lynn were about to explain to all of our children about your news today and suddenly Luna got all mad at both of us before storming out of the house. I don't know where she's at, Leon." Rita said in response.

"I'll be on the lookout for her. Oh wait, I see her coming up to my front door right now." Leon said with a sigh under his breath.

"Oh, thank you, Leon. I'll be right over." Rita said right before hanging up the phone.

Once Leon put his phone down on the living room table is when he opened the door for Luna, and he had her sit on the sofa. Luna had a gloomy look on her face before noticing that Leon had an upset look on his face. Then a minute later, Leon heard a knock on his door realizing that it was Rita and he let her inside.

"Mom..." Luna stated in a trembled voice.

"Luna, I was so worried about you. Don't ever run off like that again. You had your whole family scared and worried sick about you." Rita said as hugged Luna and cried.

"I'm sorry, Mom and Uncle Leon." Luna said in an apologetic tone.

"I accept your apology, Luna." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"Luna, would be it ok if I told you about your uncle's situation here instead of at home? I know your father probably already said it to your sisters and Lincoln already, but your uncle won't mind it at all if it said in front of him." Rita asked in a motherly tone.

Luna nodded her head and Rita proceeded to explain the situation regarding Leon and Nicole right in front of Leon. Sensing that something was going to happen Leon decided to sit in between Luna and Rita. At first, Rita though she did something wrong, but Leon assured her that she did not which put a smile on her face.

Suddenly, Luna looked at her uncle with a sympathetic face upon hearing everything from her mother. Rita began to stand up from the sofa realizing that Leon wanted to talk to Luna in private and before leaving the house, Leon motioned to Rita that Luna would be out there in a short while to join her.

"It saddens me about what Mom told me just now, Uncle Leon." Luna said in a sympathetic tone.

"I know it does, Luna. But listen the best thing is that you will have a cousin joining the family and who knows she might like music one day." Leon said in a reassuring tone.

"That is a good thing to look forward to." Luna said after hugging Leon with a smile on her face.

"Seems that there is something else you want to ask me before you head back home with your mother, Luna?" Leon asked based on looking at Luna's curious face.

"Umm...yes, Uncle Leon. Can I see the pic of my new cousin that Mom was talking about?" Luna asked with a little hesitation.

"Of course, Luna." Leon replied as he got his phone out to pull up the picture of Nicole.

Once the picture was on display, Luna had a big smile on her face and proceeded to hand the phone back to Leon. Then Luna gave Leon a hug before leaving his house and thanked him for their little talk. Rita, who was sitting in Vanzilla saw Luna come out of Leon's house and into the vehicle is when they both went back to their house.

Upon making it to the house, Luna was greeted by her siblings and father who crowded her with hugs. It was in that moment when Luna proceeded to tell her father that her mother already explained to her the situation regarding her uncle and apologized to him for running off. The other Loud Children were amazed to see this transpire and most importantly how happy Luna was after it happened. Then Rita entered the house and at that time all of the children proceeded to head upstairs.

"Hi, honey. I'm back. All of the kids went upstairs." Rita said to Lynn Sr. once she shut the door behind her.

"Yes. Luna already apologized to me for her stunt earlier." Lynn Sr. said in a calm tone.

"Hmm...she is in a better mood. I found her by my brother's house." Rita said with a calm look.

"Was he at home?" Lynn Sr. asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, and he looked a bit upset that Luna ran off to his house. However, once I got over there and she apologized both of us is when I told her about his situation. That is why it took us a little while longer to get back." Rita replied.

"Luna did say something that you told her about it earlier. So, how did she handle it? I mean she seems to have a special connection with your brother, and he supports her more than any of our other kids. That is why I was wondering about that is all." Lynn stated with curiosity.

"Well, she felt sad about the whole situation and that was when I stepped outside to let my brother talk to her in making sure everything was going to be alright. Once I saw Luna walk out of my brother's house is when she had a big smile on her face and told me that she was looking forward to becoming a cousin." Rita said with a calm tone.


	13. Leon and Nicole's Memorable Day

Two days had passed, Leon was getting all dressed up and had a smile on his face once he walked past the empty room next to his bedroom. "_Today's the big day. The room looks all cleaned up and ready to go._" Leon thought to himself before heading downstairs. Then Leon left his house in the direction of the courthouse but not before locking up the front door.

It took Leon a half hour to get to the courthouse, since he showed up before Karen and the others that is when he decided to head on inside to wait for them. By the time Leon got past the security system, he notices an attorney was waiving him over and once he walked up to the attorney's location that was when they were explaining to Leon what his role would be in the proceedings. After the briefing was over with, Leon was instructed to go into the courtroom.

Once the courtroom doors were shut is when Karen, her parents and Nicole had arrived at the courthouse. Then the attorney explained to them the same thing they told Leon a few minutes prior before sending them on into the courtroom. Upon entering the courtroom, Karen and her parents have Nicole sit in one of the middle rows while they sat in the same row as Leon.

A couple of minutes later, the bailiff ushers for Leon, Karen and her parents to come forward. It was in that moment when the judge began to go over the custody proceedings and explained the process of handing over guardianship back to the biological parent. Then Karen and her parents took their turn explaining to the judge why they want to give full custody of Nicole to Leon. However, the judge wanted to hear Leon's statement on why he should get full custody of his daughter, Nicole. After hearing an impactful statement from Leon, the judge had given only a few minutes of thought before reaching for his gavel.

"Upon hearing impactful statements from both parties. It is the decision of this court that I grant you Leon, full custody and legal guardianship of your daughter, Nicole. Court adjourned." The judge said right before banging his gavel.

Once Leon, Karen, Karen's parents, and Nicole stepped outside of the courthouse is when they were stopped by the attorney who gave Leon a copy of the guardianship papers. Nicole then walked up to Leon and held on to his hand while they were heading to the convertible. Karen and her parents decided to follow them since they still had Nicole's car seat and had the trailer with her belongings hooked up on their vehicle.

"Leon, figured you might need this." Karen said as she handed Leon the car seat.

"Oh, thank you, Karen. If you guys want to follow behind me to my house with that trailer, I'm heading that way now." Leon said after he put Nicole in her car seat and before he got in his car.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Karen said in a calm tone.

Then Leon with Nicole in the back seat headed off for home, while making sure that Karen was still behind them. On the road trip, Leon noticed how quiet Nicole was and it concerned him until they reached the house.

"Nicole, you're being too quiet. What's wrong?" Leon asked out of concern.

"Daddy...I'm sorry." Nicole replied with tears coming out of her eyes.

"It's ok, sweetie. Daddy's here now." Leon said once he got Nicole out of her car seat and wiped the tears off her face.

Suddenly, Karen shows up with the vehicle and notices the scene that transpired which she signaled Leon to come over.

"How come Nicole was crying now?" Karen asked out of curiosity.

"I noticed that she was way quiet on the car ride here and it startled me. Before you know it, right as I asked her what was wrong she started crying and apologized to me. Karen, has Nicole always been this quiet around anyone else?" Leon replied out of concern.

"Not really, Leon. Do you think we should have a talk with her after we unload her things out of the trailer?" Karen said in response.

"That would be helpful, Karen. I'd appreciate it because I don't want this turning into a bad problem which could affect Nicole for the rest of her life." Leon replied in a calm tone.

Then Leon and Karen proceeded to unload Nicole's thing from out of the trailer and placed them into the empty bedroom of Leon's house. It took them around forty-five minutes to get everything in place including putting Nicole's bed together. By the time the unloading was officially done, Leon and Karen notice that Nicole had taken a seat on the sofa with the same look she had earlier in the day.

Before Leon could head into the living room, he decided to put his cell phone on silent and put it back in his pocket. Then Leon took a seat on the sofa right next to his daughter while Karen grabbed a chair from the dining room to sit on and brought it into the living room.

"What is the matter, Nicole? You've not been your happy self today." Karen asked out of concern.

"I'm sad, Auntie Karen." Nicole replied with the sad look on her face.

"Why are you sad? I mean you should be happy that you get to live with your father and know him like you have always wanted, Nicole." Karen said in response.

"I know I should be happy but I'm going to miss you, Nana, and Papa a lot." Nicole said before a tear started to drip down her face.

"Nicole, sweetie. Please don't cry. We will make sure that on holidays or on any special occasion to visit them." Leon said upon realizing the reason for Nicole's quietness.

"Are you sure, Daddy?" Nicole asked with curiosity.

"Yes, sweetie. They're family and that is what they do. Am I right, Karen?" Leon said after hugging Nicole.

"Of course, Leon. Nicole, you can call Nana or Papa once a week since they wanted me to tell you that earlier and they have your dad's phone number. Same thing goes for me. Well I better head on home. Nicole, come here and give your auntie a goodbye hug." Karen said right before walking out the door.

"Bye, Auntie Karen. Love you." Nicole said with a smile on her face.

"Bye, Karen. Thank you for everything." Leon said as he waved goodbye to Karen.

Then Nicole shut the door after seeing her aunt drive off and walked by her father with the smile on her face. However, Leon looked at the clock to realize that it was getting close to dinner time.

"Are you hungry, Nicole?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"A little bit, Daddy." Nicole replied with a curious look on her face.

"Does Chicken Nuggets and French Fries sound good?" Leon said as he opened his freezer.

"Hmm-mmm, that's one of my favorite foods." Nicole said in response.

"Ok, it will be a few minutes before the food gets done. If you want to go look at your room, sweetie. Feel free to do so since me and your aunt put it altogether." Leon said with a smile on his face.

Then Nicole walked upstairs to see her bedroom and was amazed at how decorative it looked. Meanwhile, Leon had taken his cell phone off silent to put it back on vibrate and once he did that a message popped up from Rita. "_How did everything go today?_" The message stated. Leon replied with a brief summary of the day and that he was busy making dinner. "_That's wonderful to hear, Leon. Would you mind if I stop by or is that a bad idea?_" Rita stated in a follow up message. Leon then walked upstairs to Nicole's room and found her playing with some of her toys, but he signaled her to come by him.

"Hi, Daddy. What is it?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"I wanted to tell you that dinner is done and there is something I have to ask you." Leon said as he got down on his knees.

"Yes, Daddy." Nicole said out of concern.

"Would you mind if we have some company come over and visit for a little while?" Leon asked with a smile on his face.

Nicole nodded her face and Leon replied to Rita saying that it was fine for her to stop by for a visit. Then Leon and Nicole headed downstairs to eat their first official dinner as a family.


	14. The Reassuring Visit

Leon and Nicole were finishing up their dinner when a knock was coming from the front door. That was when Leon wiped off his face and hands to check to see who was at the door. Then upon opening the door just a small bit, Leon noticed that it was his sister Rita and he let her inside after fully getting the door opened.

Rita then took a seat in the living room since she noticed that she had shown up right at the end of dinner time. It only took Leon a few minutes to clean up his and Nicole's dinner dishes before he could head towards the living room. Nicole, who was a little startled on what was going on followed her father into the living room and took a spot right next to him.

"Oh, Nicole. I want you to meet someone very important. This is your Aunt Rita. Can you say hi, sweetie?" Leon said with a smile on his face.

"Hi..." Nicole said with a nervous tone.

"Hi, Nicole. It is nice to meet you." Rita said with a smile on her face.

Then Leon proceeded to give Rita a glass of water while she was listening to Nicole talking about what she likes to do and that in turn gave Leon a huge smile on his face. Once Leon sat back down is when he thought of something to tell Nicole but looked at Rita to see if it was ok to do so and was given the nod.

"Nicole, sweetie. There is something I think you might want to know, and it will make you super happy. That I can promise you." Leon said while rubbing on Nicole's head.

"What is it, Daddy?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"You have 11 cousins that you can hang out with and the best part is that they are excited to meet you." Leon said in response.

"That is wonderful, Daddy. Are they all Aunt Rita's?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"Hmm-hmm, that's right." Leon said after looking at Rita.

"Everything that your dad is right, Nicole. However, I didn't want to bring them all down here or your uncle to meet you tonight since I figured you and your dad had a long day. Also, I didn't want to make you too nervous with meeting a bunch of new people all at once." Rita said with a smile on her face.

"That was nice. Don't you think so, Daddy?" Nicole said in response.

"It sure was, sweetie. Oh, would you look at the time, it's your bath time. Before you get ready for that, would you want to say goodbye to your aunt in case she leaves by the time you're out of the bath." Leon said upon looking at the clock on his phone.

Nicole then gave Rita a hug before she headed on upstairs to get her things ready for a bath. Leon motioned that he would be back down to visit with Rita once he got Nicole's bath all set up. Rita didn't mind it at all since this gave her some time to check up on things back at her house and that put a sigh of relief on Leon's face.

"Ok, sweetie. Can you get out of a bathtub safely?" Leon asked once Nicole was in the bathtub.

"Yes, Daddy. Auntie Karen taught me not that long ago." Nicole said in response.

"Ok, I'm just making sure. If you need any help, just shout for me because I'll be downstairs." Leon stated after he placed Nicole's shampoo right beside her and started to leave the bathroom.

Once Leon walked back down to the living room is when he saw that Rita had laid out two glasses of water on the living room table. Leon took a sip of water before sitting down on the large sofa.

"I want to thank you, Sis." Leon said with a calm tone.

"What is it that you're thanking me for, Leon?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"For stopping by today. I could tell how happy my daughter was just from your visit. You see she had a little hard time understanding on what the importance of today meant for me and her until her aunt on her mother's side assured her that everything was going to be alright." Leon said in response.

"I understand, Leon. I'm glad that Nicole felt that way about our visit." Rita said with a smile on her face.

"So, do you have a family occasion or dinner coming up? Reason I'm asking is that would be the best opportunity for everyone to meet Nicole." Leon asked out of curiosity.

"That is what I was checking on earlier, Leon. Lynn suggested for me to invite you and Nicole to his Lynnsagna night which will be two days from now. Does that sound good?" Rita said in response.

"Yes, that sounds perfect. Since it will give me plenty of time to know Nicole a lot better by then." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"DADDY!" Nicole shouted from afar.

"Well it sounds like Nicole needs me for something. I'll see you in a couple of days, Sis." Leon said as he was walking up towards the bathroom while Rita was leaving Leon's house.

Rita then waved goodbye to Leon before shutting the door to his house. Meanwhile, Leon had made it to the bathroom to see that Nicole appeared that she wanted to be done in the bathtub.

"Yes, sweetie. Are you done with the bath?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, Daddy. But I don't see a towel out here." Nicole said in response.

"Oh, I am so sorry about that sweetie. There you go the towel is on top of the closed toilet seat." Leon said in a nervous tone.

It didn't take long after Leon left the bathroom for Nicole to dry herself off with the towel and pulled out the bath drain. Then Nicole switched into her pajamas and went into her bedroom to see that her father sitting next to the bed. Once Nicole got onto the bed is when Leon tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead before uttering goodnight to her. Leon then left Nicole's bedroom door open just a crack and looked on with a smile on his face. "_Good night, Nicole. I will do my best for you as a father._" Leon thought to himself before heading into his bedroom.


	15. Family Dinners and Shocking News!

Two days had passed, Leon and Nicole were finishing up with breakfast before Leon gets a reminder message on his phone about the family dinner later. After putting his phone in his pocket, Leon notices that Nicole has a sudden look of curiosity on her face. Leon started to get curious as to why his daughter was giving him that look until it dawned on him. Over the course of the past two days, Leon had been getting to know Nicole a lot better which in turn he completely forgot to mention about the family dinner at the Loud House.

"Is something wrong, Daddy?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"Well I almost forgot that today is the day that me and you were invited to a family dinner. I'm sorry, sweetie if I didn't bring it up earlier." Leon replied with a calm tone.

"It's ok, Daddy." Nicole said with a smile on her face.

"Thank you, sweetie." Leon said with a calm tone.

"Are family dinners fun, Daddy?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"Of course, sweetie. You get the chance to meet some of your family at these functions. Come along, let's pick you out a nice outfit to wear." Leon stated as carried Nicole up to her room.

A couple of minutes had passed before Nicole pulled out a nice shirt and pants from her closet. Upon looking at the outfit very carefully, Leon nodded for approval and stepped out of the room. "_Well I got to hand it to Nicole for having a strong sense of fashion. Probably gets that from Sharon._" Leon thought to himself before heading into his bedroom to change.

Once Leon had finished changing into his outfit, he noticed that Nicole with a stuffed teddy bear came into the bedroom and sat on it. Leon decided to take a seat next to his daughter with a calm look on his face.

"Daddy, can I bring Missy Bear with us?" Nicole asked as she was lifting her stuffed animal up in the air.

"Ok, you can bring your bear with you, sweetie." Leon replied with a smile on his face.

"Oh, thank you, Daddy. Come on, Missy Bear let's find you a good outfit to wear." Nicole said as she left Leon's bedroom.

Leon realized right then how important the stuffed bear was to Nicole. That was until he remembered not only looking at Nicole's medical information, but a phone conversation Leon had with Karen the day prior.

"_Hi, Leon. So how is Nicole adjusting to living with you and all?_" Karen said in a calm tone.

"_She is doing alright. I had noticed something was a bit off with Nicole which wasn't found in these medical files you gave me, Karen." _Leon replied in a suspicious tone.

"_What do you mean, Leon?_" Karen asked out of curiosity.

"_I noticed that when something messed up with a stuffed bear that she's been carrying, she starts breaking down. Also, earlier when I mentioned that we were invited to eat another person's house, she started to get all nervous about it. Was she like this around your side of the family?"_ Leon said with a sigh under his breath.

"_Ok, here it goes. Well my family did notice something was wrong with Nicole about a few months ago and we took her to a specialist to figure out what it was. Right around the time I had encountered you is when we found out that Nicole has autism spectrum disorder. The reason I didn't send you the paperwork confirming her diagnosis is that they hadn't delivered it yet but once it comes I will bring it by. Leon..._" Karen responded in an honest tone.

"_First, comes the loss of your sister and now this. I'd wish she were here to help out in a time like this._" Leon said while trying to fight the tears back on his face.

"_It's going to be ok, Leon. Remember the promise Sharon made in the letter. She will always be watching down over you as you help and support Nicole through the rest of her life with this disorder._" Karen said with a calm tone.

"_You're right, Karen. Thank you. I better let you go since Nicole wants to play with me now._" Leon said with a smile.

"_Alright, Leon. Tell Nicole that me and the rest of the family said hello._" Karen said right before hanging up the phone.

"_Ok, I will do that for you._" Leon said before hanging up the phone.

Then Leon who had just done recollecting his thoughts from that phone conversation felt a familiar tap touching his leg. Upon seeing that it was Nicole with her stuffed bear, Missy Bear all decorated nicely, Leon realized that it was nearing time for them to head over to the Loud House.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"Nothing's wrong with me, sweetie. So, are you and your stuffed animal ready to go?" Leon said as he got up from the bed.

"Hmm-hmm." Nicole answered as she held onto Leon's hand.

Once Leon put Nicole in her car seat is when he gave her Missy Bear and then they headed off for their destination. Leon noticed while on the short car ride that Nicole was getting excited just by the way she was playing with the stuffed bear in which he figured out was a way to get her to feel calm due to her condition. Upon arriving at the Loud House is when Leon looked to see that Nicole was amazed at the sight of the size of the house.

After getting Nicole out of her car seat is when Leon notices that his sister Rita steps outside to greet them.

"Hello, I'm glad you guys came." Rita said to Leon and Nicole.

"Hi, Sis. We're glad to come over. Nicole, come along don't be shy." Leon said as he noticed Nicole was hiding behind him.

"Hi..." Nicole said to Rita in a quiet tone.

Leon suggested to Rita that she should introduce Nicole to her family and agreed upon looking at his facial expression. "_This is going to be hard on Nicole, I can feel it. Just knowing that it might overwhelm her has me feeling a bit off right now._" Leon thought to himself as he followed Rita and Nicole inside the Loud House. As Rita was proceeding to introducing Nicole to Lynn Sr. and her children, Leon could notice the nervous tension building up in his daughter until he saw that she didn't have the stuffed bear in her hand. That is when Leon decided to look in his car to see that Nicole had dropped Missy Bear next to her car seat.

By the time he got Missy Bear from the car, Leon rushed back to the house to see that Nicole was starting to get upset. Feeling a bit concerned, Rita had signaled to Leon to come into the living room but before he could do that he gave Missy Bear to Nicole which calmed her down. Also, Leon wanted Nicole to apologize for her behavior in front of the Loud family in which she did. Then Leon ultimately went to the living room after having things smoothed over with Nicole.

"Leon, I'm glad that you did all of that stuff just now. However, I am curious about Nicole and how come she has been acting different?" Rita said out of concern.

"You have every right to be curious about my daughter. But the reasons that she's acting very different from someone say like me, you, Lynn, or your kids is that she is very special. That is the way I want her to grow up and not be judged by everybody else. Because I know she will make a big difference in many people's lives. I'm sorry if I am getting to emotional with all of this." Leon replied with an anxious tone.

"Leon...take a deep breath. Tell me what it under all of that anxiety is that you're trying to tell me." Rita said in an honest tone.

"Ok, to put it lightly. Nicole has autism. That means I'm going have to support her for the rest of my life and will wait to tell her this when she's a bit older and understands it." Leon said with a sigh under his breath.

"Oh, Leon. We will support you guys fully since that is something serious. Also, this is what families do for one another." Rita said with a smile on her face.

Leon then gave Rita a hug to show how much he appreciated the message. It was only a few seconds later until Leon noticed that dinner was being served and followed Rita into the dining room. Before any of the children came down however, it gave Leon some time to cut up Nicole's portions. Once all of the children came down for dinner, Leon noticed that Nicole had a calmer look on her face opposed to earlier on. Then everyone began to enjoy their portions of Lynnsagna.

After the dinner was done with, Leon and Nicole were getting ready to leave the Loud House. As Leon got Nicole into her car seat with Missy Bear on her lap, all the Loud Children, Rita and Lynn Sr. were waving goodbye to them in which they responded back with the same gesture.

"So, did you have a good time, sweetie?" Leon asked Nicole while they were nearing their house.

"Yes, daddy. It took me a while to be me, but I got to have fun with my cousins." Nicole responded with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad to hear that." Leon said with a smile on his face.


	16. Unforgettable Bedtime Story

Upon arriving back at the house, Leon notices an envelope stuck on the front door and took it off there. Taking a further glance at it, Leon realized that it was the piece of information about Nicole's condition that Karen condition and proceeded to place the envelope in his pocket. Then Leon unloaded Nicole from the car, and he noticed that she was feeling tired. So, once they entered the house Leon immediately started up the bath for Nicole.

After Nicole got in the bathtub is when Leon decided to put the envelope in his special storage spot where he kept all of Nicole's records. Then Leon's phone goes off to see that he got a message from Karen stating, "_Did you see the envelope I set on your door? It has all of the information pertaining to Nicole's diagnosis._" Leon replied back stating, "_Yes, I did. Thank you so much. Me and Nicole would have time to visit you today it's that we were invited to my sister's place for a dinner which we just came back from._" Karen gave a response stating, "_Oh, I understand Leon. I'm glad that you let Nicole get to meet your family. So, how did she do while you guys were over there?_" Leon responded back saying, "_Well, at first she got a bit nervous and around a half hour after being there she started being her normal self. She was nice and friendly to my sister and her family. I hope you won't be mad at me, but I had to tell my sister about Nicole's diagnosis._" Karen said in response, "_No, I'm not mad Leon. They're now a part of Nicole's family so they should have the right to know. Also, I'm happy that Nicole had a good time. I better let you go, tell Nicole that everyone down here says hello and that we're proud of her._" Leon said in response, "_Ok, I will tell her that for you. Good night._"

Once Leon placed his cell phone on the charger, he heard Nicole calling for him to help her clean up the bathtub. After the bathroom was cleaned up, Leon escorted Nicole to her bedroom and tucked her into her bed. Upon giving a yawn, Nicole looked at Leon with a smile on her face.

"I talked to your Aunt Karen earlier and she wanted me to tell you that everyone over there says hello and they are proud of you, sweetie." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"That has me feeling happy all over, Daddy." Nicole said with a smile on her face.

"I know, sweetie. So, do you want to hear a bedtime story?" Leon said as he noticed Nicole was tiding up her bed covers.

"Hmm-hmm. Can it be a good story about what you used to do, Daddy?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"I know of a few good tales that happened to not only me but some of Daddy's friends that he made throughout his time in wrestling. One that I know of happened would have to be right as my career was starting to take off and I had just started hanging out with some of the people that I am close with today. It was about a couple of months into a dear friend of mine's record setting reign with the Intercontential title which at the time was a prestigious belt. Anyways, he had appeared on a segment of a popular tv show at the time, _The Jerry Springer Show_, because there was a fan that was ill at the time and my friend was his favorite wrestler. So, my friend right at the end of segment gave the fan his belt and had to share it with another person that was sitting right next to him." Leon responded with a calm tone.

"So, what ever happened to your friend's belt, Daddy?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"Well, sweetie. When my friend told me the backstory of this tale a few years ago, the thing was back then there were no things as replica belts and my friend got concerned about it that he explained to our boss about the entire segment. Then upon hearing the explanation, the boss had told my friend that he had nothing to worry about and the segment was the right thing to do since they were sending him a new belt. You see the whole reason for that concern also was since the segment was a couple days prior from a major pay per view." Leon said in response.

"You mean wrestlers help out others even though they hurt people on TV, Daddy?" Nicole asked after yawning.

"That's right sweetie. I'll tell you another story tomorrow night. Good night, I love you." Leon replied as he tucked Nicole in and gave her a goodnight kiss.

"Goodnight, Daddy. I love you too." Nicole said before falling asleep.


	17. Touching Phone Call

The following morning as Leon was getting up and around, his phone goes off to see that it's a message from Shawn wanting him to call him once he got the message. So, Leon proceeded to call Shawn after taking his phone off the charger. After a couple of dial tones, the call went through.

"I just got your message to call you, Shawn. Is something going on?" Leon said to start the phone conversation.

"Oh, it's just that none of us haven't heard from you in a while." Shawn replied in a calm tone.

"Oh, well I have been a bit busy recently. Do you remember that girl back in the day that I was head over heels for?" Leon said in response.

"Yes, Leon. I do the one that you couldn't get over to the point that Vince suggested that you be evaluated for after the relationship was over and her passing a few years back. Why are you bringing it up now?" Shawn asked out of curiosity.

"Well there was something that I never brought up to our circle of friends until now. About a year before the girl passed away, a close friend of hers who knew where the rehab place that I was being held up for my first evaluation had told me that she was pregnant with a girl and I was upset with disbelief because I hadn't seen the girl since the relationship ended four months prior. Then by the time I was cleared from my evaluation is when everything seemed until you know..." Leon replied with a sigh under his breath.

"When you found about her death and a family member ran you out of the funeral? I remember that part because we tried to help you and rehab was the place that needed you the most which I suggested to take you up there. I don't get where this is all going Leon." Shawn said in response.

"Well you know how people try to seek forgiveness for things that happened in the past and you get rewarded for such deeds. It turned out that the other day, I got to forgive the family member who ran me out of the girl's funeral and as a reward got to meet my daughter for the first time." Leon said in a calm tone.

"You mean the kid that girl was pregnant with many years ago during your first rehab stint, is your child, Leon?" Shawn asked with a gasp tone.

"Yes, Shawn. Even I had the same feeling but it's true." Leon said in response.

"I suppose you have found a new purpose in life just like I did when I got saved, my friend." Shawn said in a calm tone.

"It seems to be that way. I better let you go since it sounds like my daughter is about to wake up. Nice talking to you, Shawn." Leon said before hearing Nicole waking up in the background.

"Ok, it's nice talking to you as well, my friend. I'll let Hunter and the others know about your life update." Shawn said before hanging up the phone.

Once the phone conversation ended, Leon placed his phone on the chair right next to his bed and proceeded to greet Nicole who was about to enter the room.

"What would you like for breakfast, sweetie?" Leon asked with a smile on his face.

"Cereal with milk, Daddy." Nicole replied with a smile on her face.

Then Leon and Nicole proceeded to eat their breakfast that is until they heard a knock on the front door. This prompted Leon to go check and see who was there to notice that it had been none other than Rita and Luna. Upon letting Rita and Luna inside, Leon went ahead to finish up eating his breakfast and told Nicole to get cleaned up before doing anything else. Nicole then went upstairs to get dressed after cleaning up her dishes.

Leon meanwhile gathered his attention to Rita and Luna who were in the living room. Before he could say anything, Leon grabbed a cup of coffee to bring with him into the living room.

"So, what brings you guys here today?" Leon asked after taking a sip of coffee.

"We were wondering if we as a family could watch some behind-scenes interviews you did?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"I think that would be wonderful." Leon replied with a smile on his face.


	18. A Passing in the Family

It was around the early afternoon hours, Leon and Nicole decided to eat at the food court inside the Royal Woods Mall for lunch. While waiting on the lunch order, Leon notices a gentleman with grey hair and a ponytail waving at him whom he recognized after giving the same gesture back. Upon getting the lunch order is when Leon and Nicole decided to sit across from the grey-haired gentleman.

"Long time no see, Bret. Oh, I like you to meet my daughter, Nicole. Nicole, this is Bret the "Hitman" Hart, one of the people who helped train me and guided me during my wrestling days." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"Nice to meet you." Nicole said in response to shaking Bret's hand.

"Hi there, Leon. Nice meeting you too, Nicole. You're surprised to see me here aren't you, Leon." Bret said in a calm tone.

"A little bit, Bret. I mean what brings you by near my neck of the woods." Leon said with a calm tone.

"Well, you remember my niece Natalya well she saw your post a while back that you were moving here to this area near where you grew up, Leon. So, as one of the people that mentored you I figured I'd pay you a visit. Also, you know that my dad, Owen and Davey would be proud of you of the changes you made." Bret said in a neutral tone.

"I know, Bret. I think about them especially your father and Owen almost every single day with the advice they had ever given me." Leon said after taking a sip of his water.

"Daddy, what are you guys talking about?" Nicole asking out of curiosity.

"Well, sweetie. Me and Mr. Hart were just reflecting on a couple of people that helped on my career who instilled values in me that I will never forget. It's been a long time since I last paid a visit up there and that could be a special trip we could save up money for." Leon replied while patting on Nicole's shoulder in which she felt happy.

"That would be a nice thing for you guys to do, Leon." Bret said upon hearing the conversation.

"It sure is, Bret. Can you hold on a second? Because I'm getting a call which seems to be important." Leon said before hearing his phone go off in his pocket.

"Yeah, Leon." Bret responded in a calm tone.

Then Leon got up to take the phone call and throughout the duration of the call he seemed to be pacing frantically. This caused some concern for Nicole, however Bret convinced her to finish eating the rest of her lunch. A couple of minutes had passed, and the phone call ended, Leon had a grave look on his face and based on that observation alone Bret knew something was wrong.

"What happened, Leon?" Bret asked out of concern.

"The retirement home that my father is in told me that he suffered a massive heart attack and they transported him to the hospital. So, sorry if I have to cut this conversation short but me and Nicole have to go up there." Leon replied in a gloomy tone.

"I understand, Leon. Keep me posted." Bret stated before Leon and Nicole left the mall.

"Don't worry, I will." Leon said.

Then Leon and Nicole left the mall in a hurry to the hospital which was about a mile north from the mall. By the time they had made to the hospital, Leon and Nicole notice that Rita and the Louds were in the hospital waiting room. Upon entering the waiting room, Leon let Nicole hang out with her cousins while he wanted to have a word with his sister, Rita in private.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"Nothing yet, Leon. We just got here about fifteen minutes ago and found about what happened to Dad an hour ago. I know this puts off the plans we made earlier today." Rita replied in a gloomy tone.

"It does, Sis." Leon said with a sigh under his breath.

Then Leon peeked at the waiting room to see all the Loud Children having feelings of sadness to guilt all over their faces. Suddenly, there was a sight that Leon would never forget Nicole walked up to the middle where all the Loud Children and extended her arms out to be embraced as one happy family. Then Leon nudged Rita to look at the sight and they couldn't be happier to see this moment during a bleak hour.

A few minutes later, a nurse comes into the waiting room to explain to Leon and Rita the situation update on their father. While the nurse was relaying the information, the happy faces that were on Leon and Rita suddenly turned to sad and getting ready to be filled with tears. Lynn Sr. who came out of the bathroom walked right next to Rita and she whispered to him what the nurse just told her right as the nurse left.

"You...mean. Your father doesn't have that much longer to live. So, how are we going to handle it?" Lynn Sr. asked in a trembling voice.

"Have the kids say their goodbyes to him first. Then we'll enter in afterwards." Leon replied while fighting back the tears.

"Kids come along. The nurse said we can visit Pop-Pop for only a couple of minutes." Rita said as she and Lynn Sr. escorted the children to the room where Albert was at.

"Are you coming, Leon?" Lynn Sr. asked out of concern.

"Yeah, I'll catch up in a minute." Leon replied in an anxious tone.

However, Leon pulled out his cell phone and decided to give Bret Hart a call. Frantically pacing, Leon was waiting for the phone call to go through which it did about a minute later.

"Hi, Leon. Have you heard any updates on your father?" Bret asked in response.

"Yes, a nurse told me a couple of minutes ago that based on the severity of the heart attack and other factors that he won't make it past the night, Bret. Good Gosh it feels like I'm about to snap at any moment. Please..." Leon replied as he was trembling.

"Leon don't go through with this. I'll be right over." Bret said as he was hanging up the phone.

Leon then put his phone away before walking into the hospital hallway to find Lynn Sr. standing outside of a hospital room and walked into his direction. Upon walking to where his brother-in-law was standing, Leon got a nod from Lynn Sr. realizing that this was the room where Albert was being kept in. Once he entered the room, Leon noticed that Rita and the children were leaving the room in the direction of the waiting room.

Standing a few feet away from his frail father, Leon did the best he could from hiding his emotions. Then Leon walked up to the side of the hospital bed and grasped onto Albert's hand as best as he could.

"Hey, kiddo..." Albert said as he was struggling to take in deep breaths.

"I'm right here, Dad." Leon said as tears were beginning to flow down his face.

"I'm proud...of... you. Leon, my...son. There...is...one... final...thing...I...must...tell...you." Albert said as his breaths were declining.

"Yes, Dad." Leon said in response.

"Never...give...up...on...your...daughter...and... I...love... you... always." Albert said as he took his final breath.

"Dad...Dad... DAD!" Leon said once he felt Albert's hand falling on the hospital bed.

Upon leaving the room, Leon started scream and cry profusely on the hospital hallway. Meanwhile, Bret Hart had entered the hospital and noticed a pitching scream but took a few steps up to see a familiar face standing in the waiting room.

"Mr. Hart, what are you doing here?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"Well, Nicole. I came here looking for your father." Bret answered in a calm tone.

"Who are you exactly?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"You must be Leon's sister, and the people behind you is your family. I am Bret Hart I was one of the people that trained and guided your brother throughout his wrestling career." Bret replied in a calm manner.

"How come you are looking for Uncle Leon?" Luna asked out of curiosity.

"Well, I am going to disclose the fact that your uncle had informed me about your grandfather's passing. However, I had gotten a call from him about a half hour ago where he was antsy and told me that he could snap at any moment. Once I find your uncle, I can try to calm him down since I'm one of the few people that can do it. Also, I just don't want him to act out like this in front of family which was something me and my family instilled in him when we first trained him." Bret said in response.

"Excuse me, you're Bret the "Hitman" Hart. Sorry to interrupt but can you help us out here. We got somebody that has been unhinged and won't move." A nurse that came into the waiting room said in a nervous tone.

"Yes, I have an idea who it is and will take care of it." Bret said in a calm tone.

Then the nurse proceeded to show Bret where Leon was and still in a hinged mood about the death of his father. Once Bret got closer to Leon, the nurses backed off from Leon's position so that Bret could have a word with Leon.

"Leon, please. The nurses have nothing to do with this. Come on. You're better than this." Bret said in a sympathetic tone.

"I don't know, Bret. That won't bring my father back." Leon said in a state of denial.

"I am aware of that, Leon. Just think of the good times that you had with him. He wouldn't want you acting out like this. You're not the only one that's deeply hurt by this. Your daughter is back in the waiting room concerned about you and the rest of your family is too. So, it's time to be by their side during this time of sorrow." Bret said in a convincing tone.

"Thank you, Bret." Leon said as he tearfully hugged Bret before rejoining his family back in the hospital waiting room.


	19. The Touching Memorial Service

A couple of days had passed by, Leon and Nicole were getting ready to head out for Albert's memorial service. However, Leon had signaled to Nicole that he would be down in a second. This made Nicole feel a bit concerned about her father's behavior ever since they had left the hospital upon hearing about Albert's death. Meanwhile, Leon was on his phone booking a couple of plane tickets to Calgary for him and Nicole. Once the flights were booked, Leon then grabbed his sunglasses and proceeded to head downstairs.

"Are you ok, Daddy?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, sweetie." Leon answered as he and Nicole left their house.

Once Leon and Nicole were situated in the convertible is when Leon put on his sunglasses and drove onwards to the funeral home. On the way to the funeral home, Leon noticed that Nicole had a curious look on her face, and he got concerned. So, by the time they had reached the funeral home, Leon had waited a moment before he got out of the car.

"Is there something that you wanted to ask me, sweetie?" Leon asked out of concern.

"Well, Daddy. I was wondering what kept you so long and how come you haven't been yourself the past couple of days?" Nicole asked in a honest tone.

"Oh, Nicole. I know I haven't been my cheerful self these past couple of days, it's just that the loss of your grandfather is taking a toll on me. It is not right that you have see me suffer like this. Come here and give me a hug." Leon said in a gloomy tone.

"Daddy..." Nicole said right as she got out of her car seat and embraced Leon.

"Thank you and I love you so much, sweetie. The reason why I took so long in getting ready is that I was booking that trip I promised you the other day. That's right you get to see the town that I began my wrestling journey in." Leon said as he gradually regained his smile on his face.

"That's awesome, Daddy. Don't you think we should head inside now?" Nicole asked as she saw cars parking up in the parking lot.

"Oh yes, we better get inside or else your aunt might wonder what kept us." Leon said in a calm tone.

Once they entered the funeral home, Leon and Nicole noticed that the Loud family had not shown up yet even though old friends and relatives had started to arrive to give their condolences. Leon then signaled for Nicole to sit in the front row and to save him a spot since he was going to keep an eye out for Rita and her family. "_Oh, come on, Sis. Where you guys at? The service is going to start in a half hour._" Leon thought to himself with a concerned look on his face.

Fifteen minutes before the memorial service was about to begin, Leon notices a group of familiar faces coming into the funeral home-the Loud family. Then Leon pulled his sister Rita aside before they could take their seats.

"What took you guys so long?" Leon said in a quiet manner.

"Well, Vanzilla broke down on us about five blocks back and it took a while before somebody to come by to fix it. We're sorry, Leon. I mean we could have been here around the same time you did if that situation didn't happen." Rita responded in a calm tone.

"Ok, I understand." Leon said in a calm manner.

It was in that moment when Leon and Rita took their prospective seats. Then the memorial service for Albert began with a reflection of his life from his friends before it went to the family's reflection of him. Once Leon got up to the stand to give his reflection, he was fighting back tears while wearing sunglasses.

"My father was a very understanding, supportive, faithful, caring, and most importantly a family man. He instilled those values onto me and my sister when we were growing up. Not only he was a great father but a wonderful grandfather to 12 children who all loved him very much..." Leon stated his reflection before starting to get emotional on the podium and went back to his seat.

Once he sat back down, Leon noticed that Nicole gave him a tissue to wipe off the tears in his eyes. Then the memorial service followed with a burial service at the cemetery not far from Royal Woods. After the mourners had left the service, Leon had noticed that Rita was signaling for him to come her direction. Leon then let Nicole hang out with her cousins since he realized that this was going to be a private conversation between him and Rita.

"I know this is going to be hard on the both of us, Sis. Just think of the happy memories that Dad gave us." Leon said in a calm manner.

"Yeah, I can try to think of some good ones, Leon. So, do you and Nicole want to have dinner with us tonight?" Rita asked out of curiosity.

"Sorry, Sis. We are going to decline since me and Nicole have to get up bright and early to head out for an important trip." Leon replied as he was about to walk away from Rita.

"Oh, ok." Rita said in a gloomy tone.

Then Leon signaled Nicole that it was time to leave and they got in the convertible to head for their house. "_I know that the trip to Calgary tomorrow is not only a sightseeing tour for Nicole but it's going to be a reflection trip for myself. I mean I need to get my head cleared a little with a little trip like that ease the pain from everything that happened recently and spending it with my little ray of sunshine will make it worthwhile._" Leon thought to himself on the car ride back home.

Once they got back to the house, Leon got Nicole's suitcase out of her room and packed it for her while she was taking a bath. Then by the time Leon got done packing Nicole's suitcase, he made quick work in packing his suitcase and both suitcases by the living room coffee table.


	20. The Trip to Calgary: Part One

The following morning, Leon and Nicole got up early and left the house so they could make it to the airport on time for their flight. Upon checking-in at the airport is when Leon and Nicole grabbed themselves breakfast and found a table near the boarding gate to sit at since they had about an hour and a half before their flight was set to depart. Realizing that Nicole needed to use the bathroom, Leon walked her to the entrance of the nearby restroom and waited on her. While he was waiting for Nicole, Leon took this opportunity to send a message to Bret that he was on his way to Calgary today and told him what time approximately the flight should get there. Then Leon got a response back from Bret stating, "_That's good to hear, Leon. Hopefully I might stop by once you guys land and everything._" That put a smile on Leon's face before he proceeded to turn off his cell phone and noticed that Nicole was out of the bathroom. "_Attention all passengers. We are beginning to board on flight number 6534 which is non-stop service from Detroit to Calgary, Alberta, Canada._" The airport's intercom stated as soon as Leon and Nicole made it back to the table where they had breakfast.

"Daddy, is that our flight they just announced?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, sweetie. Come along let's get in line." Leon answered as held onto Nicole's hand.

Once Leon and Nicole handed their ticket information to the stewardess and were cleared to be boarded is when they got on the airplane. After taking their seats and listening to the flight safety protocol, the plane was ready for takeoff and by the time it was in high altitude Leon could notice the happiness in Nicole's face. "_Nicole is really enjoying this flight considering this is her first time on an airplane. Well it will be a couple of hours before we get to Calgary, so I'll try to squeeze in a nap._" Leon thought to himself before he closed his eyes.

An hour and forty-five minutes had passed before Leon woke up from his nap and noticed that Nicole was looking directly at him.

"We're almost to our destination, Daddy. You want to know something?" Nicole said with a smile on her face.

"Yes, what is it, sweetie?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"The view from up here is beautiful and it feels like its straight out of a storybook. That is why I've been looking out for most of the flight, Daddy." Nicole said with a smile on her face.

"I knew that you would love it, sweetie. But once we get into the spots of Calgary that are noteworthy I know you are going to admire the scenery of a different land." Leon said with a smile on his face.

Upon finishing that statement, Leon heard the airplane's wheels going down on a runway indicating that he and Nicole have landed in Calgary. After getting off the airplane in Calgary, Leon and Nicole had to go to the Customs office to get a stamp on their passports before heading down to baggage claim. Once they got their bags, Leon and Nicole were trying to flag down a shuttle to take them to a hotel, but no luck came. That is until a familiar face showed up in a car pulling up right in front of Leon and Nicole.

"No luck with the shuttle connections, Leon. Hi, Nicole. Here let me put your guys suitcases in the back of my car." Bret Hart stated as he got out of his car.

"Hi, Mr. Hart." Nicole said in response after getting into Bret's car.

"Yes, Bret. Unfortunately, that's one thing about mid-day life in Calgary that never changes if you're traveling from that airport." Leon said with a sigh under his breath.

"When did you have your father's memorial service, Leon?" Bret asked out of curiosity.

"Yesterday and I tried to give a eulogy before breaking down but after the burial it was one of those days where I just needed moral support the most in which I think Nicole is doing a good job at that." Leon said in a calm tone before seeing that Nicole was taking a nap in Bret's car.

"I understand completely, Leon. So, what are you planning on doing while you guys are down here?" Bret asked out of curiosity.

"I was planning on showing Nicole the areas where I began my wrestling training you know from an outside view and the Saddledome where we had that one big pay-per-view to reflect the legacy your family made. Also, the next thing I am going to say you probably know where this might be going." Leon responded in a calm manner.

"You're going to visit Owen's gravesite, Leon. I knew that you had been very close friends with Owen until the very end and despite if our opinions differ from what happened in Montreal. But you were loyal just like Owen was and that was why when looking back at your career I've always seen that you were finishing up the work that he wanted to do." Bret said in an honest tone.

"Yes, Bret. It was the way my career had been defined for many years. But not a day goes by when I miss your brother and think about him because other than you and your father, Owen was the one that saw the greatest potential in me back when you guys we were training me." Leon said in a calm tone.

Then Bret turned at a hotel which was nearby the famed Hart House and parked his car so he could drop off Leon and Nicole there. Leon then proceeded to carry Nicole on his right shoulder while wheeling his suitcase and Bret carried Nicole's suitcase into the hotel. Upon checking into the hotel is when Leon and Bret parted ways. So, Leon put Nicole on a chair in the hotel's front lobby in a attempt to wake her up.

"You awake, sweetie?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"Hmm-hmm. Where we at Daddy?" Nicole answered back with a question of her own.

"We're at the hotel, now. Just got us checked in. So, if you want to finish taking that nap once we get to the hotel room, I'll let you." Leon said with a smile on his face.

Nicole nodded her head once she grabbed her suitcase and followed her father into the direction of their hotel room which was situated on the third floor. Upon entering the room and setting their suitcases on the sides of the beds that they wanted; Nicole went back to taking a nap while Leon decided to turn on his phone and pull out his phone charger. "_Hmm...a couple of missed calls from Rita. Oh boy. I wonder what this is all about._" Leon thought to himself before heading into the bathroom and started to call Rita.

"Hi, Sis. Sorry if I missed your call. Me and Nicole just landed at our destination about a hour ago and got situated in the hotel. Is something wrong?" Leon asked once the call went through.

"Earlier this morning when me and Lynn were going to wake the kids up well we didn't hear anything from them. So, we investigated their bedrooms and they were gone. Oh, Leon, I'm worried about them." Rita responded in a frantic voice.

"Ok, take a deep breath, Sis. Did you guys try contacting the local authorities?" Leon asked out of concern.

"Yes, Leon. They told us to remain vigilant and that they should be back with something very soon." Rita said in a gloomy voice.

"Let's hope for that, Sis. Ok. Besides it's not like they ran off and did something that we didn't know about. Listen to me, you guys try to get some rest and if I hear anything I will report it to you ok." Leon said in a calm tone.

"Ok, thank you, Leon." Rita said before hanging up the phone.

Once Leon got out of the bathroom, he noticed that Nicole had gotten up from her nap and had a curious look on her face. That was when Leon told Nicole about what had transpired in the phone conversation. Nicole was shocked to hear the news, but Leon told her to remain calm and be faithful that her cousins will be found again. Then Leon pointed the window out to Nicole so she could see the close-up of the scenery that Calgary had to offer.

A couple of hours had passed once Leon decided to call up a nearby Chinese place that had delivery service to the hotel and ordered dinner for both him and Nicole. While waiting for the food to arrive, Nicole looked at Leon with a curious look.

"Daddy, what made you come to this place?" Nicole asked with a smile on her face.

"Well, sweetie. I had started to watch wrestling when I was about your age and there was this group from Texas called the Von Erichs. Well their father had been trained by a man named Stu Hart who is the father of the one you call Mr. Hart. You see Stu had ran a territory in this very town and lived here mostly all his life. So, that was when I figured why not be trained in the same style as the people I used to watch on TV everyday as a little kid." Leon answered honestly while rubbing Nicole's head.

"Does the territory that you're talking about exist, Daddy?" Nicole asked.

"No, I'm afraid not sweetie. Even though there have been attempts to revive it over the years since it got sold. However, the place where Stu and even some of his children including Mr. Hart trained me is still standing. Oh yes, that is one of the places in Calgary that I am going to show you tomorrow, sweetie." Leon replied in a calm tone.

"Really?" Nicole said in a calm manner.

"Of course, Nicole. You see they turned it into a museum because one of the reasons why is that Mr. Hart's family is one of the most revered families in this city. Oh, it looks like our food is here." Leon stated before he heard a knock on the door.

Once Leon opened the door to see that the food was bagged up on the ground. However, before he could pick it up Leon noticed two sets of hands stacked on top of his own and looked up to see that one set was Bret's while the other belonged to a gentleman with short blonde hair.

"Bruce?! Is that you?" Leon said upon realizing who the other set of hands belonged to.

"Yeah, Leon. It's me. Bret told me that you were here in Calgary. So, we told the food deliver that we would hand this to you. Do you mind if we come in?" Bruce Hart asked in a calm tone.

"Of course. Oh, Bruce, this is my daughter Nicole. Nicole this is one of Bret's older brothers, Bruce Hart, another person that helped me out in my training as a wrestler." Leon stated once both Bruce and Bret entered the hotel room.

Nicole waved at Bruce before Leon handed her dinner and something to drink. Then Leon sat on the bed while Bruce and Bret stood on the side of the bed where the lamp switch was.

"Bret was explaining to me the places you plan on seeing while you're up here, Leon. As you are aware that the family home/the Dungeon had been turned into a hotel but is still protected by the city as of a few years ago. However, fans still turn up to see it as tourist attraction. Regarding the last place you plan on doing, be wary of what you say in case if you bump into _his_ widow and kids." Bruce said in a calm manner.

"Look Bruce I've always known for almost twenty years to watch my mouth around Martha and the kids. Don't you think I've forgotten about what she tried to do right after your brother died. It was because of that for a few years until the company let Bret in the Hall of Fame and after that your father, I had been a scapegoat due to me being the mediator while Bret and Owen were still in the company. That's why I had to fabricate parts of my Hall of Fame speech was not to only save my butt but do it in honor of the very family that trained the inner workings and traditions of the business." Leon quietly said in front of Bruce and Bret.

"We were just reminding you in case if you do bump into them is all, Leon. However, I knew there was something a bit off with your Hall of Fame speech since you know that Hunter and Shawn were trying to put you over big time after I left the company despite knowing how I felt about that group. If they had given you more time with the speech and been like how mine was then yeah the fans would have eaten it up." Bret said in a honest tone.

"Yeah, Bret. Now that you think about it they could have." Leon said with a smile on his face.

Then Nicole who was completely focused on eating her dinner had finished up and put her tray in the garbage before grabbing the remote. However, Leon noticed something blinking on the back of Nicole's shirt. Before Nicole could sit down, Leon grabbed the remote from her and had Bruce turn Nicole around.

"Uhh...Daddy. What's going on?" Nicole asked anxiously.

"Just stay still, sweetie." Leon answered as he removed the blinking chip from the back of Nicole's shirt.

"Hmm...It looks like one of them tracking chips." Bret said upon seeing the chip on the bed.

"It certainly does. Do you want us to call the authorities, Leon?" Bruce asked out of curiosity.

"Not yet, Bruce. First things first, I have seen a chip like this before but where." Leon answered while analyzing the chip.

"Umm...Daddy. I have an idea where the chip might have come from." Nicole said in a hesitant voice.

"You do, sweetie? Tell me." Leon said in a calm manner.

"Ok. Here it goes." Nicole answered right before whispering into Leon's ear that the night before Leon's niece Lisa Loud had slipped a tracking chip into her shirt while she was visiting with her and her siblings at the memorial service.

Upon hearing the truth from Nicole, Leon hugged his daughter before putting his food in the fridge. Now feeling a bit distraught, Leon was beginning to leave the hotel room before turning around.

"Daddy, aren't you forgetting something?" Nicole said while handing Leon his cell phone.

"Thank you, sweetie. Listen to me, can you be a good girl for Mr. Hart while I do an important errand. I'll be back, I promise." Leon answered while putting his phone in his pocket while Bret nodded to his request.

Then Bruce proceeded to follow Leon out of the hotel room.

"Leon, where do you want to me take you?" Bruce said once Leon got inside Bruce's car.

"The airport." Leon answered in a calm tone.

"So, what was it that your daughter told you about the chip, Leon?" Bruce asked out of curiosity.

"Well, supposedly one of my younger nieces who's a prodigy had placed that tracking chip in Nicole's shirt yesterday. If my hunch is right, my nieces and nephew are GOING to be in a HUGE world of trouble once they see me." Leon replied in an honest tone.

"Why would you say that?" Bruce asked.

"I had gotten a few missed calls from my sister after I checked my phone upon arriving here. So, I gave her a call and she end up telling me that early this morning that my nieces and nephew were gone. This led me to asking if she contacted the authorities and you probably know where this is going, Bruce." Leon answered honestly.

"Yes, Leon. That usual oh they could show back up in a couple of days routine." Bruce said with a sigh.

It was in that moment when they showed up at the airport, Leon signaled Bruce to drive around in order to avoid getting a parking ticket after he got out of the car. Then Leon entered the airport and asked one of the ticket counters where the American customs office was located at. By the time he had reached the customs office, Leon noticed that one of the rooms was heavily occupied and proceeded to walk up to the front desk.

"Excuse me, miss. Do you know what is going on in that middle room over there?" Leon asked the person at the front desk.

"Well, there are 11 children in there who got on an international flight without adult supervision from Detroit to here just about forty-five minutes ago. Airport security caught them once they landed here. Here is proof of one their ticket stubs." The lady at the front desk showed Leon one the airplane tickets.

"Have you tried contacting their family to notify them about what they did?" Leon answered after handing the ticket.

"Umm...not yet, sir." The lady responded in a hesitant voice.

"I believe you just now have contacted someone that is family to them, me. Now tell whoever is guarding that room to let me inside so I can have a word with them. Do you know the Brute, the wrestler that trained up here for a few years and if they don't heed by that then I will come back with one of my mentors, Bruce Hart? Got it." Leon said in a snarling voice.

Then the lady at the front desk contacted the guard in the middle room to open the door and the request was granted after a friendly have a nice day greeting was perceived to Leon. Once he got to the door, Leon saw the faces that were in the room and they were indeed his nieces and nephew-the Loud Children. Before entering the room, Leon whispered something into the guard's ear. Leon's mood became bitter once walking into the middle of the room and the Loud Children knew something was wrong right away.

"Putting a tracking chip in your cousin's shirt, stowing away on an international flight. Where do I even begin with all of the trouble you guys just caused today?" Leon said in a very stern voice while pacing around voice.

"Uncle Leon...we didn't.." Luna said before getting nudged at by Lori.

"Didn't do what? Cause a lot of worry for not only your mom and dad but to your cousin as well? I had to listen for a few minutes straight of your mother panicking and worrying about where you guys were. That had hurt me a bit and you guys should be ashamed of yourselves for doing such a despicable act." Leon said in a snarling tone before walking out of the room.

Then Leon decided to call Rita after taking a few deep breaths from scolding his nieces and nephew.

"Hi, Sis. I got some good news for you. I found your children." Leon said once the call went through.

"Where were they, Leon?" Rita asked.

"It seems that your children got on a plane and followed me to my destination. I figured it out after discovering a tracking chip like the one I seen inside your house was found on my daughter's shirt." Leon answered honestly.

"Oh, they are so going to be..." Rita said.

"You don't have to worry about scolding them, Sis. Because I already gave them a lecture. Also, you can worry about grounding them once they come back home but while they're with me I know a punishment or to that comes in mind." Leon said in a calm manner.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that, Leon. But it was nice of you though. How about this if your punishment ends up being harsher than the one I'm planning on doing than I'll accept it as their overall punishment? Deal." Rita said.

"Deal, Sis. Have a good night and tell the authorities to call off the search because you know how persistent they can be." Leon said before hanging up the phone.

After putting his phone away is when Leon went back into the room and saw that his nieces and nephew had apologetic looks on their faces.

"We're very sorry for what we have done, Uncle Leon." The Loud Children said in unison.

"I do accept your guys apology. However, I'm still going to have to punish you." Leon said with a sigh on his breath.

Then Leon walked out of the room with his nieces and nephew right behind him. Once they got outside of the airport is when Leon looked at his nieces and nephew.

"Your guys punishment is to walk right where you are to the hotel that me and your cousin are staying at which is that far bright place you can see straight in front of you." Leon said before walking off.

Once Leon started to head towards the parking lot to see that Bruce was there waiting on him. Then Leon got in Bruce's car and they started to head back to the hotel, but Leon noticed through his window that his nieces and nephew were taking the left walking path to the hotel.

"So, Leon how did your search go?" Bruce asked out of curiosity.

"I found them and believe me they were not pleased to see me once I set the record straight. Oh, you got me a can of the good stuff. Thanks, Bruce." Leon replied before opening a can of soda.

"So, what did you do to straighten them out?" Bruce asked in a calm manner.

"Well, I told my nieces and nephew that for a punishment for causing all of that trouble is to walk all the way from the airport entrance to the hotel. Figured that's fair enough. Just like how you and your old man used to do it to some of us trainees if we didn't toughen up down there at the Dungeon on that hill." Leon answered with honestly before taking a sip of his drink.

"Yeah, you never did forget that part of your training, Leon." Bruce said with a small chuckle.

Then Bruce and Leon had made it back to the hotel. Upon entering the hotel, Leon saw Bret and Nicole who was in her pajamas walking around the front lobby. Before anyone could say anything, Bruce handed Leon his drink that he left in the car before heading back outside. Leon then told Bret about what had transpired at the airport and he was surprised to hear what happened. Once that conversation was over is when Bret left the hotel to meet up Bruce but not before saying goodbye to both Leon and Nicole.

"Daddy, I hope you're not mad at me, but we didn't know how much longer you were going to be, so I brought down your dinner here with me." Nicole said with a puppy dog look on her face.

"No, sweetie. Of course, I wouldn't be mad at you for doing that. So, did you find a microwave that can be used?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, Daddy. Right behind you on your right." Nicole answered while pointing out the microwave in question and proceeded to heat up Leon's dinner.

"So, thanks to that our little detective work with that chip, your cousins were found, and it turns out that they followed us here, sweetie. Don't worry, I really notified your Aunt Rita about the situation." Leon said with a calm manner.

"That's great, Daddy. But still that's wrong of them to put something like that in my shirt." Nicole said in a natural tone.

"I know it is, sweetie. But they are dealing with the consequences right now." Leon said with a sigh under his breath.

Then the microwave beeped indicating that Leon's dinner was done, and he began to eat it. Nicole then noticed familiar footsteps on the steep hill way and had a smile on her face. Leon who had just taken the last bite of his dinner by that point noticed Nicole's facial expression. This prompted Leon to turn around and saw that the Loud Children were getting closer to the hotel.

Leon got up from the chair and proceeded to step outside while Nicole dumped the tray. By the time the Loud Children reached the hotel entranceway is when Leon pulled them aside for a moment.

"So, did you learn anything from this punishment?" Leon asked out of honesty.

"Yes, we learn not cause any major troubles for our family and not put anything in somebody's belongings." Luna said on behalf of the other Loud siblings.

"Alright, then. I think there's one more person you guys have to apologize to before I can convince the receptionist to check you guys in under my tab." Leon said with a smile on his face while signaling for Nicole to come outside.

"Nicole, we're very sorry for putting that chip in your shirt. We promise to never mess with your belongings unless you ask. Will you forgive us?" Lori said in a sympathetic tone.

"Hmm-hmm." Nicole replied before hugging all her cousins.

Then Leon went back inside and successfully convinced the receptionist his nieces and nephew rooms under his tab. Just before everyone could head into their prospective hotel rooms, Leon pulled Lori aside.

"Yeah, Uncle Leon. What is it?" Lori asked out of curiosity.

"Can you make sure to text your mom that you're here in the hotel and that she doesn't have to worry about paying fees for it? Tell your sisters and brother to text her as well at least once. I know she'll appreciate it that you guys are safe and well coming from you too other than myself." Leon said his request before heading back to his hotel room.

"You can count on me to do that, literally." Lori said with a smile on her face.

Then Leon headed back up to the hotel room and saw that Nicole was steadfast asleep. "_Now this trip will be an unforgettable one. Well since Nicole has been the only one who is fascinated by my wrestling tales. It's going to be a whirlwind explaining this not only to hear but to my nieces and nephew. This is a grand return to the site that started it all for me. However, I am thankful that I saw Bruce and he reminded me about what to do when the time comes for my visit to Owen's gravesite._" Leon thought to himself before he fell asleep.


	21. Epilogue

The next morning, Leon woke up and started to get ready for day. While he was getting ready, Leon notices that there was a message on his cell phone from Rita. The message stated, "_Thank you for looking out for my kids, Leon. About what we were discussing yesterday with their punishment just disregard that. The kids told me what you had them do once they got settled in last night._" Leon replied back by stating, "_Sure thing, Sis. It's the least that I can do for you and Lynn._" Rita replied stating, "_Well it made us feel relieved to hear from the kids though and the fact they apologized for causing a ton of trouble. I know that once they first see you they'll probably be in a happy frame of mind. Besides, what are you doing on this special trip of yours?" _Leon answered by stating, "_It was a promise that I had made to Nicole originally to take her to the place where some of my fondest wrestling memories came from such as the place where I trained, an arena where an early career highlight of mine occurred, and so on. You could it a reflection trip, Sis. Now with your kids added into the trip's agenda, I suppose they'll learn a whole lot about me as well._" Rita answered by stating, "_That is a unique trip, Leon. Also, I agree the kids will learn a whole lot about you and could tell me once they return home. Well I better get off here since I'm getting ready for work._"

After reading Rita's response is when Leon placed his cell phone in his pocket and started to head for the breakfast lounge on the main floor of the hotel. Upon walking past the front desk, Leon notices that out of his nieces and nephew that Luna is the only one in the breakfast lounge. So, Leon decides after fixing his breakfast plate is to sit across from Luna who had a down look on her face.

"Luna, what's wrong?" Leon asked out of concern.

"Oh, hi, Uncle Leon. I'm a little down because I feel upset for letting Mom and Dad down with the actions from yesterday." Luna said in a gloomy tone.

"Luna, it's not your fault, ok. To be honest with you, I had a talk with your Mom already this morning right before I came down here." Leon said in a calm tone.

"Yeah, what did she have to say?" Luna said as her mood was gradually getting better.

"Well she told me that she felt happy to hear from you guys last night and all she wants you guys is to be happy. So, will you cheer up for me, Luna?" Leon said with a smile on his face.

Luna nodded with a huge smile on her face before she got up to get a breakfast platter of her own.

"So, what are we doing today, Uncle Leon?" Luna asked out of curiosity.

"Well we will wait to see on how long it will take for your sisters, brother, and cousin to get ready first. Since there a couple of places that I have planned to look around for today." Leon answered after taking a sip of his coffee.

"That makes sense, Uncle Leon." Luna stated after taking a bite of her platter.

A couple of minutes had passed before Leon and Luna noticed familiar faces now entering the breakfast lounge-Nicole and the rest of the Loud Children. Once Nicole got her platter, she placed it on the table where Leon was at before giving him a hug and kiss.

"Good morning, sweetie. It looks like you're already to go." Leon said upon looking at Nicole who was wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

"Yes, I sure am Daddy. Lori and Leni helped me out with the clothing choices for today." Nicole said before taking a bite of her breakfast.

Leon then proceeded to thank Lori and Leni for helping Nicole out. Noticing that the rest of the Loud Children were all dressed and ready, Leon just told them to eat a breakfast platter and stay at the lounge once they got done eating. While everyone else was eating, Leon took this opportunity to walk up to the front desk and before he could talk to the receptionist he noticed that Bret was coming inside the hotel to greet him and they stepped into the main seating area away from the front desk.

"Morning, Bret." Leon said his greeting to Bret Hart.

"Morning, Leon. So, how did it go last night?" Bret asked out of curiosity.

"Well, my nieces and nephew apologized to both me and my daughter once they made it to the hotel. After that realizing the change of heart they had gone through, I had my oldest niece contact my sister so that everything would be resolved." Leon answered in a calm tone.

"So, how did your sister react to all of this, Leon?" Bret asked.

"Well, she seemed to be very relieved and happy that her children were safe with me and that they apologized to her for what they did. This led her to asking why I came up here and figured it would do an amount of good for my nieces and nephew to a certain point of view. I mean they are going to benefit from this as much as my daughter will." Leon answered honestly.

"I knew as much, Leon. So, it shouldn't be much longer before the limo I asked to pick you guys up in will arrive in and it will take you anywhere you need to go while you're here in Calgary." Bret said with a calm demeanor on his face.

"Thanks, Bret. I really appreciate it." Leon said after shaking Bret's hand before Bret was about to leave the hotel.

Then Leon walked back into the breakfast lounge area to see that Nicole and the Loud Children had just finished eating breakfast. So, this prompted Leon to escort his daughter, nieces, and nephew to stand outside a few feet away from the hotel entrance.

"What are we waiting on, Daddy?" Nicole asked as she tapped on Leon's arm.

"We are waiting on our transport... Speaking of which it's here." Leon answered as soon as the limo pulled down to the hotel parking lot.

Once the limo driver came around and opened the bottom door, Leon could see the exactment fill up in Nicole and the Loud Children's faces before they stepped inside. However, Leon requested if he could sit up in the passenger's seat and the limo driver didn't mind that at all. After getting his seat belt on, Leon told the limo driver to drop him and his party off nearby the Hart House and gave him his number once he's ready for pick up.

The drive from the hotel to spot near the legendary Hart House was stable on terms of commute. Once the limo driver found the right spot to drop off Leon and his party is when they got out of the limo. "_There it is, the legendary Hart House which housed the famed Dungeon. Brings back so many memories. I called this place my home away from home for so long and now here I am many years later._" Leon thought to himself looking at the front gate which surrounds the Hart House.

It took a couple of minutes before Nicole and the Loud Children to reach where Leon was standing at. Suddenly, a calm wind sailed right through them and noticed a car just parked about twenty yards from where they were standing. Then Leon had a smile on his face which bewildered the children.

"You felt that breeze too didn't you, Leon?" Bret said as he was coming out of his car and coming into his direction.

"Yes, Bret. It was like a sign that brought me back here even thought it's been so long." Leon said with a sigh.

"Where exactly are we, Daddy?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah, Uncle Leon. I mean we recognize that guy from the hospital on the day that Pop-pop passed. Care to explain?" Lola asked.

"Ok, here is the reason I planned this trip in the first place. As you can recall in my Hall of Fame speech when I thanked the Hart family for training me. Well, the city that we are in right now is where they are originally from. So, I've known for a while now that you guys wanted to know what my wrestling days were like. My training all started right in this house that is behind this gate. To answer your question, Lola, the person standing right next to me is Bret Hart, he was one of the people who was very instrumental in my training along with his father. Fun fact-this was also Bret and all his sibling's childhood home despite his father training wrestlers in the house." Leon answered honestly.

"That's cool, Uncle Leon. So where was the training held in the house?" Lynn Jr. asked out of curiosity.

"Good question, Lynn. Well, much of the training was done in the basement of their house which most people refer to it as the Dungeon and on some occasions there was a hill that some of the trainees had to endure if they slipped up." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"So, Uncle Leon. Did you ever have to endure the hill you were talking about?" Lori asked.

"I came close to it about twice but those were days when Bret's father wasn't around surveying the training. Yes, there were some of the trainees that tried to come into the program who I had mixed feelings about but had to let cooler heads prevail at the time." Leon said in a calm tone.

"Is this place used as a training school now?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"No. It hasn't been for almost twenty years. You see back in the mid 2000's, hold on a sec...Bret, is it ok for me to explain why the Hart House is the way it's at now." Leon said before looking at Bret.

"I am fine with it, Leon. Besides I better get going." Bret said before waving goodbye to everybody.

"Ok, now where was I. Oh yes, in the mid-2000s, Bret's siblings had sold the house to city of Calgary for it to be a protected property and they had done some renovations in an attempt to make it into a hotel but who knows how that would turn out. However, one of the aspirations that led to this though is a sad one though was back in 2003 when Bret's father, the person who mentored me the most passed away. So, before all of that happened the property was in Bret's family for around fifty years." Leon said in a natural tone.

"Wow, that is a very interesting tale you told us about this place, Uncle Leon." Luna said with a calm look.

"Yeah." Nicole and the rest of Luna's siblings said in unison.

Then Leon, Nicole, and the Loud Children walked back down to the limo. So, Leon then told the limo driver to take them to the Saddledome which was on the other side of Calgary. Once the limo had reached to the Saddledome, Leon and his party got out to see the sight of the magnificent stadium.

"Twenty-one years...wow. It's all coming back to me now." Leon said before a tear started to appear in his eye.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Nicole asked out of concern.

"It's nothing sweetie. Just remembering an iconic memory that happened for me the last time I was at this building. Ah...yes. The WWF as it was called version of homecoming of those who trained and brought up here in Calgary. July 1997." Leon said upon looking at the building again.

"Excuse me, sir. You mean the famous WWF _Canadian Stampede _PPV event that took place here? I remember watching that event as a child." The limo driver asked out of curiosity.

"The one and only. You probably didn't recognize me at first due to the little bulky frame I have now." Leon answered the question.

"Oh my god, you're him. You're the Brute. I mean your legacy is great around here in Calgary and what you did on that event is what inspired me to become a wrestling fan." The limo driver said in an excited tone before heading back to the limo.

"Thank you, I really appreciate those words." Leon said with a smile on his face.

"So, what is it that you guys were talking about?" Luna asked out of curiosity.

"Ok, it was the summer of 1997. I had been in the WWE or WWF as it was called at the time for two years. However, I was almost done nursing up a torn biceps injury I had sustained earlier that year on an international tour. So, I had learned from my boss that he wanted to turn me 'heel' or a villain character. Right around at that same time, I was watching some of the wrestling programs where Bret had turned into the villain and it was working great for him alongside recruiting some of his family and family friends to form a stable. Anyways, I told my boss how I appreciated the idea for me turning villain would work since it's working for Bret. Then he tells me about the pay per view event being held in Calgary and since other than the Hart family at the time, my boss knew my training background so I figured that would be the perfect spot to do it. Since my arm injury was healed completely about two weeks before the event, so I walked into my boss's office and laid out when the turn would happen. The meeting lasted for about a couple of hours with him, some people on creative, and me. The spot was for me to help Bret's team out during a run-in at the final moments of the match when one of his siblings throws water at their opponents. Once they agreed with the proposed spot it was all up to the boss to tell Bret once he got the arena that day." Leon said in a honest tone.

"So, did Mr. Hart like the idea then, Daddy?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, as he told me later that he needed to relay that information to his siblings and father as well so they wouldn't get confused about what was going on at the time. Anyways, once I heard the ovation for Bret's team coming out for the main event on that night it was pure pandemonium and that is what Calgary is like with their celebrities. So, while the match is going on I am standing behind the curtain which is known as Gorilla Position and don't ask me why it's called that. Once it comes time for the spot when Bret's brother to throw water at one of the opponents that is when I got my cue to head down to the ring. While I was making my down to the ring, I noticed that there were some mixed reactions from the fans even though I was making my return. However, once I punched the opponent that tried to attack the Hart family even after the match was over with, that was when the crowd went nuts. The reason for that match also was to celebrate the accomplishments that Bret's father made in the wrestling business and for the city of Calgary. Sadly, for that family it was the last time they would all be in the ring together at the same time which is why it brought me tears a little when I stepped out earlier." Leon said with a calm voice.

"So, what was it like backstage for you after that match, Uncle Leon?" Lori asked.

"Well, besides the Harts shaking my hand for obvious reasons. My boss came up to me and told me that the spot was perfect. So, I had a little decent villain turn which lasted through the rest of that year since they were not only testing waters with me as a bad guy but the company had done a heinous act of letting go Bret in a controversial way which left him very bitter for years and where I had to watch my back a little even though they still kept his youngest sibling, Owen under contract despite it all." Leon said in a clear tone.

Leon then signaled for the children to head back into the limo and started to look at the time on his cell phone. "_Hmm...there still is time for me to visit Owen's gravesite. Doing the key things, I wanted to do up here all in one day wow. Still, it's been a long time though since I visited the gravesite maybe far too long. Well here it goes._" Leon thought to himself before going back into the limo.

"There is one final place I want you to stop at." Leon said to the limo driver in a calm tone.

"Where to?" The limo driver replied.

"The cemetery where Owen Hart is buried at. Is there any way that you can make sure the kids don't get out at this stop?" Leon said in an honest tone.

"Yeah, anything for the Brute." The limo driver said before changing the limo's gears.

It was a long drive from the Saddledome to the cemetery where Owen Hart was buried at. Once the limo got closer to the cemetery, Leon notices that Bret was standing there waiting for him. Then the limo parked opposite where Bret's car was parked.

"I knew that you would come here, Leon. I already went over there since I didn't know how much time you would take at the Saddledome. So, the kids in the limo?" Bret said once Leon walked in his direction.

"Yes, Bret. I don't know how long I'll be so can you keep an eye on them in limo for me." Leon said before walking up into the direction of Owen's gravesite.

"I understand, Leon. Take your time." Bret said in response.

Meanwhile, Nicole and her cousins are stumbled on why the limo stopped. That is until they see the front visor being lowered to show Bret Hart. This raised the confusion on the children even more.

"Mr. Hart, how come you're in here?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"Your father asked me to watch you guys while he is out paying respects to my late brother who is buried at the cemetery you're in now and he didn't want to be bothered." Bret answered out of honesty.

"Why would he do that?" Luna asked.

"Ok, your uncle for most of you or in Nicole's case your father, was very close friends with my youngest brother, Owen. You see Leon during the final phases of his training had formed a good friendship with Owen and whenever he come by home from a tour or something he would teach your uncle some moves that he picked up on the international circuit. There were times that your uncle would help Owen out in what some wrestlers call ribs or pranks. One that I would never forget involving your uncle and Owen was right after your uncle signed his first WWF contract and they put him on the same European tour as me and Owen; well we had gone to the Vatican which was a holy place and one of the agents had told us to watch our mouths because of it being a holy place. So, I guess your uncle had whispered into Owen's ear to swipe someone's 100-dollar bill that they just placed and give it to somebody else. Then your uncle walked by me with a grin once Owen did the rib and suddenly the same agent who reminded us not to cuss at the Vatican well he did the opposite. I mean Leon and Owen were inseparable. After the incident that left me out of WWE, Leon was furious about the situation but chose to stay since Owen ended up doing so out of loyalty for both me and him. Their friendship got closer afterwards and then about a year and half after I left that company, Owen died due to an accident on a live pay per view show." Bret said in an honest tone.

"What happened to my Daddy on that night, Mr. Hart?" Nicole asked out of curiosity.

"It changed him completely. He told me that at the night of the pay-per view, something was off about Owen and it felt strange to him being his closest friend. Thing was your father was supposed to be the match after Owen's. However, when he heard that Owen fell and saw the stretchers carrying him past by he knew that something was wrong and went with the EMTs and did not go back to the pay per view. So, when he saw his boss that night right after they gave the news that Owen was dead, your father requested to give him some time off or else he was going beat the crap out of the boss right in front off the hospital staff. So, his boss told Leon that he will have the night off. However, Leon went straight to Calgary from Kansas City so he could help console my family. Once the funeral came, your father was like a wanted man for not showing up the RAW tribute show for Owen and missing the pay per view. So after the funeral was done with and Owen's widow said some indigenous words to Leon's boss, he decided to give your father a harsh punishment for threatening him at the request of time off but was labeled as a scapegoat which took him about seven years to pay his dues." Bret said in an honest tone.

"Wow that was a harsh thing for Uncle Leon to go through." Luna said.

"Yeah, I can see why he's trying to be a better person." Lori said.

Meanwhile, Leon has made it to Owen's gravesite and the same gentle breeze that he felt back at the Hart House came back to him. Before he could say anything, Leon took in a couple of deep breaths.

"I know it's been a long time since I last came here. I still think about you every single day and some of the great memories that we did on the road. But I would know that you are proud of the legacy that Martha and your children are still carrying on to this very day. So, I thought about the time you told me how wonderful a family man can be at times. Well, it turns out I have a young daughter named Nicole and have also a few nieces and one nephew who like you did at one time appreciated my wrestling work. They are with me today is to not only show them where your father trained me but the place where our friendship began. Thank you for being my friend on the road and for life, Owen Hart." Leon said before kneeling back up.

Suddenly, Leon noticed that Nicole was standing right behind him.

"Sweetie, where are your cousins?" Leon asked out of curiosity.

"Well, we were surprised with a random car while you were here, and it had Aunt Rita and Uncle Lynn in it. So, they got to reunite with them and convinced them to stay at the hotel." Nicole replied with a smile on her face.

"Uncle Leon?" Luna asked.

"Yes, Luna." Leon answered.

"Is it alright if we come by you?" Luna said.

"Yes, it's fine." Leon said.

Then Luna along with her siblings and parents walked up to where Nicole was standing. Leon turned around to see Rita and Lynn Sr., he was surprised to see them there. Then Leon kneeled backed down again and this surprised everyone around him.

"I knew there was one last thing I forgot to tell you, Owen. Well remember those times on the road when you told me that one day I get to reconcile with my sister again. That is the moment when you truly told me so and never gave up on me. I think it's time for me to say goodbye for now, old friend." Leon stated as he got up and kissed his hand to touch on Owen's headstone.


End file.
